COLUMBUS, Ohio -- D.J. Carton sat at the podium, answering questions the day before Ohio State basketballs matchup with Minnesota.

He answered question after question about how a team who was just ranked No. 2 in the country and looked like a potential Final Four team had fallen so far in just 28 days. The freshman rattled off a multitude of reasons ranging from a lack of passion, to team chemistry, to how shooting woes have impacted every other facet of the game.

About seven minutes into the Wednesday media session, Kaleb Wesson joined him, echoing many of the same sentiments. Neither looked happy with the current situation, but they also may be the primary sources to the solution to the problem.

I dont think anybody as special as D.J., but Ive played with pretty good guards before, Wesson said. Hes different and special.

Carton and Wesson are a product of what happens when there's a clash in styles of play on a team's two most important positions. Wesson is the team's best player and the primary weapon of attack while Carton is arguably the team's most talented player with an upside that could ne day turn him into a first-round NBA Draft pick. Both are a lot for an opposing defense to deal with, but this isn't a match made in heaven.

Wesson is a 6-foot-9, 270-pound big man who does his best work on the block. He's a highly-skilled, smart basketball player who uses his size and footwork to impact a game. He's best in the half-court, although his ability to knock down threes at an efficient rate makes him dangerous as a trailer in transition.

Carton is a 6-foot-2, 190-pound point guard who's explosiveness made him the state of Iowa's very own version of Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook. He thrives in the open court and it's why he was a four-star recruit. But it's been a while since he hasn't been the focal point of an offense and even longer since he's played with someone of Wesson's caliber.

"I've never played with a big man that can dunk consistently," Carton said. "My focus has never really been to get the ball in the post. It's something new to me. It's a different offensive brand that I wasn't comfortable coming into."

At Bettendorf High School in Iowa, the offense was predicated on putting the ball in Carton's hands and allowing him to make decisions. He made a habit of going 94 feet and making plays in the open court and has shown that same ability at times at the college level.

When teams tried to slow him down and play in the half-court, he got high ball screen after high ball screen giving him the ability to get downhill to create for himself and others. He never had to worry about a post entry pass or waiting on a post player to get position on the block. Now he does, and the adjustment has been anything but smooth.

"We didnt ever play through a big man, Cartons high school coach Curtis Clark told cleveland.com. "We played through D.J. 100 percent. We played through him regardless of how good our posts were or not. We thought our best chance to win was if the ball was in his hands whether he shot or got a shot for someone else. "

The two have had their moments where they've looked like a quality one-two punch for the Buckeyes. An exhibition game against Cedarville provided a glimpse at what the two could do together in a perfect world. During a three-minute stretch in the second half of a 95-52 win, the two combined to score 17 straight points while Carton provided three and assists and a steal and Wesson added three rebounds.

In those two, Ohio State has two ways to attack you offensively. Wesson would provide dominance down low while Carton along with transfer C.J. Walker would provide much-improved play at point guard and enhance OSU's capabilities in transition. Instead, the two styles rival each other. Wesson has been everything he was expected to be this season while Carton can, at times, go too fast for his own good, leading to high turnover, low assists games. Both can't live in the same space and since this is Wesson's team, his style wins while Carton is often a casualty.

I had to play a lot of half-court in high school, but it was nothing like this, Carton said. Nothing where you have to pay attention to detail for all 30 seconds. Its definitely a big change and being patient and getting the best shot for the team.

The Big Ten is arguably the best conference in college basketball, but its also vastly different than where the game is at the moment. While most teams whether at the college or pro level run every facet of their offense through its perimeter players, the Big Ten goes through the big man. Wesson is just one of many that exists in that conference, including Minnesotas Daniel Oturu, who came into the Thursday nights matchup averaging 20.2 points per game. He was held to just 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting while Marcus Carr once again put together a solid performance with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to go along with the game-winning three-pointer.

Head coach Chris Holtmann acknowledges how different this league is than any other he's coached in and how he's had to adjust his approach because of it. Yet he's still going to be hard on his floor generals, especially one as talented as Carton.

"I don't know if I've had a team where it's been that different," Holtmann said. "But we've established how we want to play and try to play through our interior as much as possible. Kaleb obviously can't do it on his own in this league."

Wesson is Ohio State's best player, but Carton maybe its most talented. Yet these two couldn't have games that are more polar opposite. There's a long list of reasons for why Ohio State is no longer among the best in the country. Building chemistry between these two might cure some of that.

Their two styles don't match, but somehow they must find a way to coexist.

"It takes some time, it takes playing together," Holtmann said. "One who's a veteran and ones who's younger and trying to find his way a little bit. One has to get the ball thrown to him and the other has the ball in his hands. It's a different dynamic."

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D.J. Carton and Kaleb Wesson finding chemistry could help solve Ohio State basketballs offensive woes - cleveland.com