On October 20, when the Ohio State men’s basketball team hosted an open practice for fans to come out and watch the 127th team in program history, someone who works closely with the team said something to me that I, at the time, thought was absurd.
“I think Juni (Mobley) is going to be our best player,” he told me. He went on, “He looks different this summer. Absolutely lit up Tennessee in the private scrimmage, (Rick) Barnes was screaming at his guys about him being one of the best shooters in the country. Am I crazy for thinking he’s going to be our best player?”
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The issue with that claim is that four-year captain Bruce Thornton, who is on his way to potentially becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer, still exists. Claiming that Mobley was going to be better than Thornton meant that either Thornton was going to have a tremendously disappointing senior year, or Mobley was going to ascend as a sophomore.
It took 16 games, but Mobley is starting to make that argument a bit more palatable. January has been a very good month for Mobley. In eight games, he’s averaging 18.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, while playing just under 35 minutes per contest. He’s shooting 52.3% in January so far, including 45.7% from beyond the arc and 95.2% from the free throw line. Astoundingly, that line includes a three-point stinker at Washington back on January 11, where Mobley made just one shot and didn’t attempt a free throw.
While January has been a great month for Mobley, the last four games in particular has been the best four-game stretch of his career, grabbing local and national attention.
In Ohio State’s last four games, it is 3-1 and Mobley has averaged 25.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while playing 38.5 minutes per contest. He is shooting 51.5% during that stretch overall, 46.5% from three-point land, and is a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line. The sophomore has scored at least 22 points in each of the last four games, including a career-high 28 against UCLA on January 17.
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A” heater” probably undersells how well Mobley is playing. A scorcher? A molten lava-
er?
Opposing teams are starting to make Mobley if not the biggest priority on the scouting report, the co-biggest priority along with Thornton. Teams are sending multiple defenders after Mobley on the perimeter, even if that means leaving other Buckeyes open elsewhere. There have been countless possessions in January where everyone in the building knows Mobley is going to be the one taking the shot, and more often than not, it doesn’t matter.
On Ohio State’s very first possession against Minnesota, the Gophers had 6-foot-7 Cade Tyson guarding Mobley. Christoph Tilly dribbled towards Tyson at the top of the arc, and flipped the ball to Mobley just as he was setting a screen on the Gophers’ forward. That left Mobley just a sliver of space to take one dribble and let it rip from the far wing, and he bottomed it into the net to give Ohio State a 3-0 lead, 19 seconds into the game.
Minnesota was locked in on Mobley. They thought that had that play sniffed out, and were trying their hardest to stick with him and take that option away from Ohio State. It didn’t matter.
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“We had the game plan on Mobley, but obviously we just couldn’t get to him quick enough,” Minnesota head coach Niko Medved said after the game.
“He sees two go in early and you’ve got a problem on your hands.”
Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades had similar thoughts after Ohio State’s 84-78 win over the Nittany Lions earlier this week. Mobley once again started the scoring for Ohio State on its very first possession – guarded by Kayden Mingo, the Big Ten’s steals leader, Mobley got the ball at the top of the three-point line and got the first step on the freshman. 7-foot center Ivan Juric jumped in to double team Mobley closer to the basket, but Mobley just hit one jab step towards the tin, spun around and took a 12-foot jumper from near the “B” in the Big Ten logo, knocking it down to put Ohio State up 2-0, 16 seconds into the game.
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Mobley went on to finish with 25 points and five assists against Penn State. He was 5- for-11 from beyond the arc. After the game, Rhoades said Mobley’s ability to create his own shot from anywhere on the floor causes problems.
“The thing about Mobley is he can shoot it from all over the floor. When you’ve got someone who can shoot it from all over the floor and also go create his own shot, ‘get in his bag,’ as they say, that’s a problem.”
The combination of Mobley playing at or near this level for an extended period of time, plus Thornton playing near his peak level could be a problem for teams in the NCAA Tournament, too.
Thornton has scored just 19 points over the last two games, but has racked up nine 20- point games this season already. The first four-time captain in program history is one of the top scorers in the conference and one of the toughest to guard. Mobley has outplayed Thornton in January, but even with his cooling down the last few games, Thornton is still averaging 17.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.4 steals in the month of January. He’s shooting 51% this month, but only 34.2% from three-point range. Reliable as ever, Thornton is playing roughly 37 minutes per game this month.
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Here are Mobley and Thornton’s season per-game averages next to each other, for reference:
Thornton: 19.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 55.4 FG%, 40.4 3PT% (36.6 Mins)
Mobley: 16.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 44.1 FG%, 41.9 3PT% (31 Mins)
Good guard play wins in March, and Ohio State has one of the better backcourt duos in the country right now. If Mobley continues to play at even 75% of the level he’s playing at currently, and Thornton just continues to be Thornton, the Buckeyes, who are currently projected to be an 11-seed in the NCAA Tournament, could be a sticky
matchup for a 6-seed in the big dance.
Both Mobley and Thornton are players that teams try to throw multiple defenders at. Unfortunately, the math just doesn’t work if you were to commit multiple defenders to two players. Teams have to pick which guard to try and take away from Ohio State, and do their best with the other.
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For Medved and Rhoades, it just didn’t work. Ohio State is hoping that becomes a trend as we transition to February, March, and the big dance.
