Ohio State F Brice Sensabaugh Off Bench Again? Coach Chris Holtmann Explains Why

The Ohio State Buckeyes played 24 minutes Thursday against the Northwestern Wildcats without their leading scorer in forward Brice Sensabaugh.

Ohio State Buckeyes forward Brice Sensabaugh entered Thursday's contest against the Northwestern Wildcats averaging 17.3 points per game.

However, in the Buckeyes' 69-63 loss to Wildcats, Sensabaugh played just 16 minutes. Why?

"That was just the rotation," Holtmann said.

Holtmann said there was nothing wrong with Sensabaugh and there was nothing off the court he was being punished for.

Sensabaugh was not in the starting lineup for the 10th time this season against Northwestern. He first cracked the starting five against Rutgers Dec. 8, 2022, and started 13 of the next 14 games, but he's come off the bench in each of the last two games.

He was on the bench with sweatpants and Ohio State's Black History Month warmup shirt to start the game, first checking into the game with 12:28 to go in the first half as the Buckeyes trailed 15-13.

And when he was on the floor, the Orlando, FL. native struggled. 

His only bucket came on a jumper with 12:32 to go in the second half to give the Buckeyes a one-point lead. Sensabaugh's four points on the night snapped a 16-game streak in double figures and tied for a season-low scoring mark, while his 1 of 8 from the field was a career-worst mark. 

Foul trouble was "part of the reason" Sensabaugh came off the bench, Holtmann said, but now he's getting tougher defensive matchups as he's at the top of opposing teams' scouting reports.

"He wasn't guarded by the best player earlier in the year. He's being guarded by the best player now," Holtmann said. "Freshmen have moments. We'll help him the best we can. The young man's fighting hard, give him credit. He's allowed to have an off shooting night. We'll find ways to put him in better positions."

Holtmann said Friday Ohio State's rotations "vary from game to game."

"We basically have a set rotation of about eight or nine guys and that ninth guy might vary on a given night between a couple guys," Holtmann said. "It depends on what the other team's strengths are and sometimes it depends on matchups, sometimes it depends on what you feel like you need in a given moment. When the players, in terms of their impact, might be considered to be somewhat similar, sometimes it's just who you feel like might perform better in a given practice or relative to a specific team we're playing."

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