COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State basketball daily nuggets: Five things you need to know heading into Sunday's game at Rutgers.



1. Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann said his lineups would be fluid this season. He showed again in a win over Maryland on Thursday that he's not afraid to mix things up if that's what the game dictates.

Holtmann said Ohio State was using lineups it hadn't really used all season. Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch, who keeps track of lineup usage, pointed out that that's not totally the truth. But there were some seldom-used lineups out there against the Terrapins.

The Buckeyes found success, and ultimately sealed up the game, by going small. A lineup that had Keita Bates-Diop at center, surrounded by guards C.J. Jackson, Andrew Dakich, Kam Williams and forward Jae'Sean Tate helped build a double-digit lead in the final five minutes of the first half.

That's a lineup featuring one 6-foot-7 guy surrounded by players 6-foot-4 or smaller. They were going against a Maryland lineup that featured 7-foot-1 center Michal Cekovsky and 6-foot-10 forward Bruno Fernando. How does that work?

"It depends on how tough your small guys are," Holtmann said. "If your small guys are soft, two or three of them are soft, you're in trouble. I think if you're gonna be smaller, then you better find a way to dig in and be a little tougher. That's what Andrew provides for us, that's what Jae'Sean's versatility -- we had not played him at the four this year at all -- we had to tonight because they weren't guarding him. They started out not guarding him or Andrew.

"I think the ability to play smaller and then defend, those guards did a good job of fronting in the post when they got posted by bigger guards. That was good to see."

Ohio State also mixed in forward Andre Wesson when going small, highlighting the simple fact that outside of Bates-Diop, all of the Buckeyes best defenders are around 6-foot-6 or smaller. But that doesn't mean you can't still be stout on the interior.

Here's some of what Holtmann was talking about. Watch the 6-foot-2 Dakich in the post here defend 6-foot-7 Maryland guard Kevin Huerter and help force a miss down low:

Here's Tate giving up six inches to Fernando, but denying him a look at the basket in a possession that ultimately ends with Cekovsky heaving one from distance late in the shot clock:

And here's Dakich again, getting matched up with Cekovsky after a switch, and doing what he can to disrupt Cekovsky's post-up before getting some help from Andre Wesson and forcing a tie-up with a guy a foot taller than he is:

Ohio State's turnaround from a slow start was keyed on the defensive end, and I'll have more on that below. But this is some really effective small-ball defense from a team that can provide matchup problems with these kind of lineups as long as the defense can hold up.

It held up against Maryland. The Buckeyes led 28-22 when that lineup of Jackson, Williams, Dakich, Tate and Bates-Diop entered with 5:19 left. They played the rest of the half, and had Ohio State leading 44-32 at the break.

2. The overall defensive intensity picked up after the first few minutes vs. Maryland. Dakich became a bit of a problem for Huerter, who sunk a couple of early 3-pointers. Watch Dakich chase Huerter around on this possession below, making him uncomfortable and helping create a rushed shot that turned into easy offense.

And this close-out from Bates-Diop is just a next-level play. Check out how much ground he covers quickly, then uses his length at the end to send a Huerter 3.

Ohio State's offensive numbers are a bit ridiculous at the moment -- leading the Big Ten in offensive efficiency in league play with 124.8 points per 100 possessions. The national average is 103.9. They're first in effective field goal percentage (63 percent); 3-point percentage (47.3 percent) and 2-point percentage (59 percent) in league play. At some point, there has to be regression to the mean on offense.

But the effort plays on defense don't have to stop, and that's ultimately where Ohio State will make its bones if it's going to contend for the Big Ten title. At the moment it's fourth in the Big Ten in defensive efficiency (100 points per 100 possession) and No. 4 in defensive effective field goal percentage (45.8 percent).

"That's one thing Coach Holtmann is all about, defense," Tate said. "Our defense transitions to how well we play on offense."

Ohio State's defense wasn't great to start against Maryland. So Holtmann took a timeout, let his team know that, and things settled in from about the 10-minute mark of the first half on.

"Sometimes you just need a coach to get on you," Tate said. "Sometimes out there you may not think you have another gear. But when coach sees you from the sideline, and sees how hard we played in the past, he can kick that gear in. I think that's all we needed, a kick in the butt to get us going."

3. It feels like Ohio State is doing a better job of extending leads early in the second half of games. The 12-point lead at the break against Maryland was up to 19 less than three minutes into the second half. The 12-point lead the Buckeyes had against Michigan State at the half was up to 20 before the 16-minute mark of the second half.

When Ohio State was up 14 at the half at Iowa last week, you knew the Hawkeyes would come out strong in the second half, and they did. Iowa cut it to five at 16:29 of the second half. In the past, the Buckeyes would have watched that lead completely evaporate. Instead they got the lead back up to 15 three minutes later.

"We take it four minutes by four minutes, try to win as many wars as we can," Tate said. "Going into my fourth year, we know how important the start of the second half is. Depending on how you come out, it can be a grind or you can try to take teams out of their game. That's been the mindset we've had going into halftime, staying locked in and knowing that the first four minutes of the second half is really the most important part."

That approach is going to get Ohio State some more wins.

4. Dakich had a career night against Maryland, and for the first time this year really took advantage of the fact that teams have no interest in guarding him. Look at how the Terps defense sagged off Dakich on this play once Tate got to driving.

Dakich is shooting 69 percent overall, and 71 percent on 3s through 18 games. That number will obviously come down. But anything he can do to be a threat on the wing will help space the floor.

Dakich, Jackson, Williams and Bates-Diop are all shooting about as confidently as players can right now. Around players like Tate and Kaleb Wesson in the low post, that's a recipe for success.

5. There's a very good vibe going on right now. And it's all about to be tested at Rutgers on Sunday (7 p.m., BTN). Yes, be wary of Rutgers if you're an Ohio State fan.

On the list of good things Ohio State is doing right now, limiting turnovers might be at the top. Just a few weeks ago, the Buckeyes' turnover percentage was up over 20 percent and ranked in the 200s nationally. Heading into the weekend, that number overall is down to 17 percent, and ranked No. 100.

In Big Ten play, that number is all the way down to 14.1 percent, best in the conference.

"That's gonna get tested against Rutgers," Holtmann said. "That's gonna get tested against some other teams in our league, maybe like an Illinois, where that's what they do is turn you over. The last two teams we've played, that's not really been a strength for them. Michigan State is an elite defensive team, but they don't really turn you over. That will get tested in some of these other games."

Michigan State's opponent turnover percentage is 17.1 percent (No. 278), Iowa's is 16.5 (No. 304). They don't put a lot of pressure on the ball. Rutgers' opponent turnover percentage is 22 percent (No. 37 in the country). That's also best among the teams Ohio State has played this season.

Teams that play that way were always going to be hard matchups for an Ohio State team light on ball-handlers. Holtmann knew when he took the job that this is a group that hasn't always handled those situations well. And though the Buckeyes have won comfortably lately, there's still something to be learned on Sunday.

"I think it remains to be seen a little bit," Holtmann said. "You go on the road and it's a close game, how are we gonna respond when it's a one- or two-possession game on the road against Rutgers late? Are we gonna play with poise and respond to whatever comes our way? I think that remains to be seen, and is probably still a legitimate question about us as a group. We've had a couple games where we have not been taxed in that way. But we were earlier in the year, and responded well."