Buckeyes desperately seeking practice time

To Keita Bates-Diop, there was just one solution for the second-half woes that have dealt Ohio State a two-game losing streak.

“Going into practice and working on it,” he said Wednesday after the Buckeyes squandered a double-digit lead in the second half of a 14-point home loss to Clemson. “That’s all we can do, is try

to get better every day and use these games as learning experiences and try to stop having these same lessons being taught to us.”

The problem for the Buckeyes as they open Big Ten play on Saturday at Wisconsin is that practice time has been hard to come by lately. This game is the fifth in a stretch of six against highlevel competition all being played over 11 days, ending Monday at home against Michigan.

So as coach Chris Holtmann’s first Ohio State team has hit the toughest slate of games on an early-season schedule in years, it hasn’t had much chance to work on its ailments during practice. After losing to the Tigers, the Buckeyes were off Thursday, held a light practice Friday and flew to Madison for an evening shootaround.

Ohio State could have had two days off next week, when it will have a season-high five days between games, but Holtmann said he thought the need for practice growth will outweigh the need for rest and instead gave his team Thursday off.

It admittedly is a fine line to walk.

“I still feel like I’m watching games and saying, ‘Man, we’re going to have to review some of the stuff that we should know by now,’” he said. “And then I’m reminded, ‘Should we know it?’ Right now practice for us is incredibly important, and quality practice time is incredibly important for us. As quickly as we can get to that, the better.”

First, though, come the Badgers and Holtmann’s first taste of the Big Ten. After spending the last four seasons in the Big East, Holtmann said he has been impressed with the quality of players and coaches in his new conference.

A first game at the Kohl Center, where Ohio State lost by 23 last season and has lost 12 of its last 14 games, serves as his official welcome. Games in Portland, Oregon, as part of the PK80 Invitational against Gonzaga, which turned Veterans Memorial Coliseum into a veritable home court, and Butler likely have helped prepare the Buckeyes for a first true road game.

“I do think those experiences can help us as we grow and hopefully can work to play with poise in those environments and those situations,” Holtmann said. “I think I turned to one of the assistants (during Gonzaga introductions) and said, ‘This will be really good for us.’”

Just how good will be revealed Saturday.