West Virginia’s plan against No. 2 Ohio State: Keep the Buckeyes moving

CLEVELAND — Oscar Tshiebwe said he became intrigued with Ohio State forward Kaleb Wesson the first time he saw the scouting report on the No. 2 Buckeyes.

It had nothing to do with Wesson’s 6-foot-9, 270-pound frame or the fact that Wesson will be a serious challenge for rebounds against Tshiebwe and WVU forward Derek Culver.

“He’s shooting 46% on his threes,” Tshiebwe said Saturday. “That’s pretty good. Most of the time when I see a big guy out there, I know I can play a couple of steps off of him. You can’t do that against him.”

It’s a unique challenge for the No. 22 Mountaineers (10-1), who are looking to make a national statement against the Buckeyes on Sunday in Cleveland.

“It means a lot,” Tshiebwe said. “If we can go there and win, everyone will know that it won’t be easy against us. We can earn a lot of respect here.”

The challenge for Culver and Tshiebwe is getting a chance to defend someone just as big as they are — “I think we’re fortunate to have a couple of 270-pounders ourselves. He’s not going to bully us,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. — but also knowing they have to defend the whole floor against Wesson.

“He’s really good,” Tshiebwe said. “He can do a lot of good things. He has really good post moves. We have a pretty good plan.”

What is that plan?

Simply put, Huggins knows he has unique big men, too.

While Culver and Tshiebwe may not be able to step out and shoot 3-pointers, they can run and move unlike most college big men around the country.

“We know how we’re going to play them,” Tshiebwe said. “I can’t just go stand in the corner. I have to run. If we keep him moving, he’s going to get tired. If he gets tired, he’ll have to come out of the game.”

As for the rest of the Buckeyes, Huggins said the plan is similar. Ohio State leads all Power 5 Conference teams in 3-point field goal percentage at 40.9%.

“They really make shots,” Huggins said. “We looked at it the other day, when they get step-in shots, they make 72% percent of them. That’s pretty good.

“So, we’ve got to keep them on the move.”

Here are some other things to keep an eye on for today’s game:

WVU is healthy

Huggins said his players returned in good shape from Christmas break.

In order to prepare better for the Buckeyes, “We’ve run a little more than we usually do,” Huggins said. “We ran them pretty hard on Friday.”

Huggins, who has been battling a flu bug since last week’s game against Youngstown State, also said his players haven’t caught any cold or flu bugs yet.

“No, they’re all pretty healthy right now except for me.”

Huggs has his eyes on Duane Washington Jr.

Ohio State sophomore guard Duane Washington Jr. has become a vital piece to the Buckeyes’ offense.

He’s shooting 50.3% from 3-point range (23 of 46) and helped Ohio State get off to a 9-0 run with two early threes in its 76-51 victory against Villanova earlier this season.

“They’ve made shots,” Huggins said. “Washington has been unbelievable. When you make shots, you’re good. That’s the nature of what we do.”

Against No. 2

WVU is 4-10 all-time against the No. 2-ranked team in the country, with the most recent victory coming against Kansas on Jan. 24, 2017.

Following the Ohio State game, WVU will get its first taste of the Jayhawks, on Jan. 4, in Lawrence, Kan.

“They’re great resume builders,” Huggins said. “Ohio State is No. 2. Kansas is No. 5. They could be great resume builders no matter who you are. You go beat Ohio State and Kansas back-to-back, people are going to start talking about you.”

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