The Ohio State Buckeyes are looking for their second win in 72 hours as they welcome the Marshall Thundering Herd to the Schottenstein Center. 

Ohio State comes into Monday’s matchup with Marshall riding an 89-65 victory against Youngstown State on Friday. The Buckeyes picked up the win after struggling for a little over 30 minutes, then a 12-0 run propelled them to a sizeable lead and their first victory of the season. 

The Buckeyes have a long week ahead. After a Monday night contest against Marshall, Ohio State will travel to Hartford, Connecticut, to take on the No. 4-ranked UConn Huskies in the first round of the home-and-home series. The Huskies just beat Michigan in a matchup where the Wolverines never led for the entire 40 minutes. 

Opponent Overview 

Marshall has had a strong season so far; they started with a 27-point home win over Buffalo. Emmanuel Manyuon, a transfer from Pacific University this offseason, led the Herd with a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double in a blowout win over Buffalo. Bryce Slay, a sophomore guard, has made his name known so far after a 19-point performance against Buffalo and a 23-point performance in a loss against Toledo. 

The Thundering Herd’s front-court is led by DePaul transfer Khaman Maker, who has proved to be one of the best rebounders in the Sun Belt Conference so far this season after a ten-rebound game against Buffalo and a seven-rebound game against Toledo. 

Some more names to know are Colt Langdon, a transfer from NC State who was a highly targeted recruit by power Big Ten schools like Iowa and Illinois. Noah Otshudi returns to Marshall after starting in every contest last season and averaging 15 points per game for the Herd.

One of the best Division 2 players, Boubacar Djigo transferred in from Concord University, where he averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds per game. Djigo won the MEC Defensive Player of the Year and was also named to the first-team MEC. 

Marshall is currently ranked 173rd by KenPom, with their offense and defense being ranked near the 200s in the country. After a blowout win against Buffalo, the Herd had a chance against the Rockets but couldn’t close out a lead at the very end. 

Keys To Victory

The Buckeyes struggled again from downtown against Youngstown State; it has seemed like a lid has been put on the basket. John Mobley and Justin Pippen have looked like a good duo so far, but to succeed, Ohio State needs to start hot early and show they can play more than 20 minutes of consistent basketball ahead of a difficult stretch.

Anthony Thompson hasn’t found a consistent stride in the transition to College. Thompson needs to come out better than the past two games; nothing crazy, but seeing some improvement in his confidence will go a long way heading into a matchup against UConn. 

Marshall is like Youngstown State; they love to shoot the three-ball. In their first two games, they have shot 54 three-pointers and made 21, for a 38% average. The Buckeyes have allowed an average of ten threes per game so far and let BYU shoot 60% in the second half a week ago. To win comfortably, Ohio State needs to prevent Marshall from getting easy three-point shots. 

Andrija Jelavić dropped 21 points tonight for Ohio State in its 89-65 win over YSU.

🗣️ “I’m thankful for the opportunity this team provided me… I knew that my opportunity [would] come.” https://t.co/kvR4MdlH5k

— Grant Kincaid (@GKincaid8) November 7, 2026

Andrija Jelavic looked spectacular against Youngstown State; the Kentucky transfer showed the potential that the Wildcats saw in the recruiting process. But the question is, can he consistently play this well? If Jelavic can play as well as he did against the Penguins, he could go down as one of the best big men to wear the Scarlet and Gray.

The key is to see growth, as wins don’t come easy in college basketball. Especially five nights before one of the Buckeyes’ biggest games of the season. The buy games are meant to build chemistry and a game plan that prepares the team for big power games.

“There’s a lot of little things, little wins in there for us, which are really important this time of year, because we’ve got to continue to grow and get better,” Jake Diebler said after the YSU game.

If the Buckeyes can come out, fix mistakes, and play consistent basketball, that will be a major win ahead of a Friday night battle against Connecticut.

Round Up

The Buckeyes should be able to iron out some of the key wrinkles that they have made in the past two games. Marshall is a good team and could win the Sun Belt, but Ohio State should take care of business to improve to 2-1.

AJ’s Prediction: 92-62 Ohio State 

The Silver Bulletin will be live from Schottenstein Arena for the Buckeyes’ home matchup against Marshall. Follow The Silver Bulletin on all social media (@tsilverbulletin) for live game updates.