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SF Justin Ahrens (transfer to Loyola Marymount)

Liken him to Jon Diebler. Diebs seemed to get set up more often than Justin does, and when Justin is in, the D always seems to know where he is. Ergo, it's harder for Justin to get an open shot. Maybe Diebs set up higher on the arc, while Justin sets up a bit lower, putting more people between him and the ball. Dunno. My powers of observation seem to have dulled with time. Anyway, when he is hot, seems like he can throw it up from anywhere and it's going down. Hope he can keep his 'instant offense' warmed up and ready. go Bucks!
 
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Big game by Justin

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Healthy Justin Ahrens Finally Comfortable on the Court

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Last Sunday at Northwestern, Ohio State sophomore wing Justin Ahrens scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range in the Buckeyes’ 71-59 win over the Wildcats.

It was the second time in Ahrens’ career that he scored in double figures. The first time came last season against Iowa when he scored 29 points. He was dialed in in that game against the Hawkeyes, connecting on 6-of-10 shots from three-point territory as well as all nine of his free throw attempts.

Against Northwestern, Ahrens provided a scoring spark that the Buckeyes have been lacking of late, which was encouraging for OSU head coach Chris Holtmann.

“Yeah, he was good,” Holtmann said. “Took good shots and defended well. They’re obviously a little bit different in terms of how they do things and their personnel, but he had good attention to detail in that game.”

For most of his career, Ahrens’ lack of minutes has been tied to his ability to defend, but Holtmann has seen some improvement in that area of late.

“I think so. Yeah. I think he’s just got to keep working,” he said. “His attitude’s got to be great, as it’s been. He’s got to continue to compete on the defensive end. That’s always been the biggest challenge for him is who’s he going to guard and how effective is he going to be guarding it and can he fight and scrap at the level he needs to? And he’s been able to do that. And also, he’s probably a month to three weeks into actually feeling close to 100%.”

Back in the summer, Ahrens suffered a pair of herniated discs during a deadlift and has spent every day since then recuperating, recovering, and just getting back into basketball shape. He’s had good days and bad days this season, but is finally to the point where the good days keep coming one right after the other.

“Oh yeah, I’m feeling really good,” Ahrens said. “Honestly, I’m as healthy as I felt in months. It’s been like an eight-month process. I’m just happy to be able to play every day and maintain a healthy status from where I was. It feels good to get my confidence back. My shot goes a lot better. I’ve gotten some strength back, so I feel good out there. The past two weeks I noticed my speed’s getting back to normal and my vertical’s back pretty much to where it was. I’m going to try keep building off of this.”

Entire article: https://theozone.net/2020/01/healthy-justin-ahrens-finally-comfortable-court/
 
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MEN'S BASKETBALL: HOT SHOOTING SHOWS HEALTHY JUSTIN AHRENS COULD BE CRUCIAL FOR OHIO STATE

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All January Ohio State had trouble scoring and knocking down consistent 3s –– problems that are especially deflating for a team whose leading scorer needs the ball down low in a physical Big Ten conference.

But this is February, and Justin Ahrens is coming alive.

Hampered by a back injury at the start of the season, the sophomore forward’s recent uptick in minutes reflect a player who’s back to relative health –– and he’s making the most of his opportunities.

“He’s not felt healthy, really through December. We saw it in practice,” head coach Chris Holtmann said. “He’s added weight, he’s getting healthier. He’s practicing better. He’s been on the scout team the last three weeks and been able to come in and still play 15 minutes a game and understand how we’re doing things.”

Ahrens scored 12 points on 4-of-5 from 3 against Northwestern this past Sunday –– his most points since a 29-point outburst against Iowa a year ago.

The rare Ahrens sighting may have slipped under the radar as yet another aberration during an otherwise disappointing season, if it weren’t for his encore performance against Indiana Sunday.

The night before the noon matchup, Ohio State freshman guard D.J. Carton announced he would be temporarily stepping away from the program to deal with ongoing mental health issues.

Without their third-leading scorer, the Buckeyes would need a boost on the offensive end to dispatch of an Indiana team they lost to three weeks ago.

Ahrens answered the call to action, knocking down three straight long-range bombs in the second half during a stretch that blew the lid off the Schottenstein Center and all but started the busses for the Hoosiers.

“You can’t leave Justin. He’s gonna kill you,” junior forward Kaleb Wesson said. “That’s what he did today –– he hit shots for us and that was big.”

The 6-foot-5 wing finished with 11 points in 14 minutes, and with 23 total in the past two games, Ahrens has scored six more than his previous 10 performances combined for the Buckeyes.

The added scoring from Ahrens, who had been averaging just over three points per contest entering Saturday, is especially essential for a Buckeye team that hasn’t gotten consistent shot-making out of two of its shooting guards.

Sophomore guards Duane Washington and Luther Muhammad combined to shoot 3-for-17 against Indiana, and Muhammad has scored in double digits just once since mid-December.

Muhammad hasn’t shot better than .333 from the field since Dec. 21, and Washington has shot around 34 percent from the field in his past 10 games.

“Duane still took some quick ones –– some bad ones –– without probing the paint today,” Holtmann said. “I thought Luther took one or two.”

Entire article: https://www.thelantern.com/2020/02/...ustin-ahrens-could-be-crucial-for-ohio-state/
 
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