Ohio State prepares for second season as Big Ten tourney starts
No. 9 Buckeyes look to rebound from 4-game losing streak.
With the next phase of the college basketball season about to start, Ohio State basketball coach Chris Holtmann said he and his staff are trying to strike a balance.
They want the ninth-ranked Buckeyes to fix what went wrong and accentuate what went right during a four-game losing streak to end the regular season.
Despite the final scores of games against Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Illinois, the fourth-year OSU coach felt the good outweighed the bad in terms of how his team played.
“Everybody’s in a good place,” Holtmann said Wednesday afternoon on a video conference to preview the Big Ten Tournament.
“Outside of Iowa, there have been good things to come out of this stretch, so the guys are in a good place here and ready to move forward in Big Ten play.”
Ohio State is the No. 5 seed in the tournament and will play this afternoon against the winner of a first-round game between Minnesota and Northwestern played Wednesday night.
Here are five things to know about the Buckeyes as they head into the postseason:
1. A few bad offensive possessions and defensive miscues hurt the Buckeyes in their los
ing streak.
“Obviously, you don’t need wholesale changes or else think that would have been evident in terms of the score in those games,” said Holtmann, who noted his team also missed some shots it normally makes that could have changed the outcome. “I just think we’ve got to be better in those areas.”
He also wants to see his team play better through contact, if games will continue to be officiated as they have been recently.
2. He is not too concerned about needing to get a win this weekend to boost his team’s psyche before the NCAA Tournament.
“I think you obviously think about your guys feeling good about themselves,” Holtmann said of a team that is still projected to get a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. “Having said that, I think they recognize they put themselves in really good position in a couple of their games, and you don’t do that without playing well. I don’t look at this stretch and say, ‘Wow, we’ve had four games where we have played really, really poorly.’ That’s not been the case. I think if that was the case, I’d be much more concerned. I think our guys would be much more concerned.
“Having said that, I think
feeling good about yourself and getting a win is important, but at the end of the day, you know how this thing works. You’ve seen it before: Guys can go into a tournament time really hot and struggle and go in really struggling and get hot. It’s just an unknown.”
3. Retribution is not so much on OSU’s minds.
Minnesota trounced Ohio State 77-60 on Jan. 3, but the Golden Gophers have won only three games since. They enter the postseason on a seven-game losing streak.
Northwestern squeaked out a 71-70 victory over Ohio State on Dec. 26 before losing 13 in a row and then finishing the season on a threegame winning streak.
Beyond those teams, Ohio State could also get another shot at a Purdue team that
beat the Buckeyes twice and a Michigan squad that started their current losing streak, but that is not high on Holtmann’s list of concerns.
“Minnesota is obviously team that had this incredible run and was playing incredibly well that had some injuries, and it’s just been a struggle. So now they’re fighting for that automatic bid (to the NCAA Tournament),” Holtmann said. “Northwestern has really been playing well here lately, so I think every everybody’s kind of motivated this time of year.
“Obviously we’re always looking for added motivation, and I think any team involved come tournament time has a lot on the line.”
4. He does expect a different feel when the ball is tipped today, especially in light of the Big Ten Tournament
being one of the first events canceled last year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think tournament time creates a lot of excitement,” Holtmann said. “They’re anxious obviously with this being taken away from them last year, as it was every other Big Ten team. But I think, just in general, they’re excited. I think they’re aware of what’s coming not just this week but beyond, but right now our focus is on the Big Ten Tournament.
“I think they also understand how good this league is, and every game is going to be a tremendous challenge.”
5. Ohio State’s health is a bit of an unknown.
Senior forward Kyle Young missed the Michigan State loss with a concussion, but he returned to play against Iowa and Illinois and is in good shape now, according to Holtmann.
The coach also revealed wing Justice Sueing has been out of practice this week after having “a procedure” but was expected back at practice Wednesday, while Musa Jallow and Seth Towns continue to manage injuries that have nagged them much of the year.
“I think it will be interesting to see if we’re able to get beyond game one kind of what it looks like afterwards,” Holtmann said.
Contact this reporter at 937815-4615 or email Marcus. Hartman@coxinc.com.