The Ohio State University men’s basketball team is midway through the Big Ten season.
The Buckeyes are 6-3 in the conference, which is tied with Purdue, Wisconsin and Illinois for second place. Michigan State is the leader at 9-0.
I had a chance to see OSU live for the first time Sunday against the University of Minnesota. The Buckeyes shot the lights out and cruised to an 85-63 win.
The signature wins have come against California 76-70 in New York Nov. 20 and rallying past Purdue 70-66 Jan. 12.
The disappointing loss was against West Virginia 71-66 Jan. 23 — a game in which the Buckeyes led.
Here are my observations so far in the season.

Positives.
1. Evan Turner. Enough said. The junior can do it all. He can score (18.4 points per game). He can rebound (9.5 per outing). He can pass the ball (5.7 assists per game). He can play defense (29 steals). With him the Buckeyes are a legitimate Big Ten contender.
2. Sophomore William Buford, redshirt junior David Lighty and junior Jon Diebler are all solid complimentary players. Each is averaging 12.9 points per game or more. Buford and Lighty are more of inside-outside threats, while Diebler is one of the top three-point shooters in the nation.
3. Dallas Lauderdale is a force inside. The junior leads the Big Ten in blocked shots at 2.49 per game.
4. Even though the Buckeyes are three games back of the Spartans, they have a chance to make up some ground with home games against both Purdue and Illinois and away contests against both the Fighting Illini and Michigan State.

Negatives
1. Depth. OSU basically has used an eight-man rotation. It was a factor in the loss to the Mountaineers as West Virginia used 10 players. Turner, Buford, Diebler and Lighty are all averaging 32 or more minutes per game.
2. Outside of Lauderdale, OSU doesn’t have a big-time inside presence. Turner, Buford, Diebler and Lighty all go between 6-foot-5 and 6-7.
3. Turner has been playing point guard. He’s averaging 5.7 assists per game, but neither PJ Hill and Jeremie Simmons have panned out at that position.
4. Losing three of their first four Big Ten games could come back to haunt the Buckeyes. OSU went 3-3, including 0-2 in the Big Ten, without Turner.