From Ohio State’s bench, Eugene Brown III pulled down his mask to yell, “No foul!” Beside him, Jimmy Sotos held his hands high into the air to mimic what his teammates needed to do.
CJ Walker had just sunk a pair of free throws with 17.6 seconds remaining to give Ohio State an 88-85 lead on Notre Dame. As he slowly backpedaled, getting down into a defensive stance, he had three of the other four starters on the court with him. The fifth guy? Musa Jallow.
With Nate Laszewski – a 6-foot-10, 225-pound stretch five who took four 3s per game last season – playing center, head coach Chris Holtmann determined that he wanted Jallow in the game for his defensive prowess and switchability.