Shocking upset makes OSU an NCAA punchline
Be more positive, my wife tells me. Fine. Here goes: Ohio State managed to extend Friday’s NCAA Tournament opener to overtime, which is a nice way of saying the gallows trap door failed to open on the first attempt.
But that’s as optimistic as it gets, because the condemned were not so lucky on the second attempt, dropping like dead weight before millions of gawking townsfolk whose brackets the Buckeyes had busted.
It was gruesome, not to mention borderline embarrassing. Ohio State became a punchline by losing to Oral Roberts 75-72 in overtime at Mackey Arena on the Purdue campus. Only eight other No. 2 seeds had lost to No. 15s in tournament history. That’s not the
A season filled with injuries and the anxiety of the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic — as well as on-court success that allowed OSU to soar to a No. 4 national ranking and make a case for a No. 1 seed — went down in flames.
If left coach Chris Holtmann to try and explain what went wrong while also reflecting on the year as a whole. The exercise had him fighting tears. “It’s a bitter, bitter end to a terrific season,” Holtmann said. “But we’ll own that, we’ll accept that, and, um …”
At that point, Holtmann paused for a full 10 seconds, searching for words. “We’ll move forward,” he said. Doing so will require some painful self-reflection on how a promising season came to this.
The Buckeyes finished the regular season with the No. 4 offense in the nation, enabling them to outscore the likes of Illinois and Iowa in thrilling, regularseason road wins, and sophomore E.J. Liddell and junior Duane Washington Jr. blossomed into all-league players in the process.
Defensively, though, Ohio State would finish 73rd nationally, and that would be a fatal flaw.
The lack of true size that helped create offensive mismatches also made for defensive liabilities, and unsurprisingly Holtmann said that end of the court would be his top focus in the offseason.
“That’s certainly going to be priority No. 1,” he said. “It’s been unlike teams
that we’ve had. It got us today.”
It wasn’t just the defense, though, that led to doom against Oral Roberts.
An Ohio State team that entered the game shooting 76.3% from the freethrow line went just 9 for 18 (50%) in the loss. The Buckeyes were 5 for 23 (21.7%) from three-point range, their thirdworst
mark of the season.
Underscoring those shooting issues was the fact that, with Kyle Young unavailable due to a concussion, Seth Towns (knee and back) and Justice Sueing (groin) hobbled and Musa Jallow invisible on offense, the Golden Eagles were able to make life harder on the few remaining scoring options available for the Buckeyes.
And yet, they would have chances to win. Ohio State led by four with 2:34 left but couldn’t hold the lead, committing two turnovers, missing two field goals and the front end of a one-and-one to allow the Golden Eagles to force overtime.
Oral Roberts never trailed after scoring the first five points of OT.
The Buckeyes have played with fire down the stretch throughout the season, and this time it ended their season.
“Listen, we all have to be responsible for not quite getting it done and it begins first and foremost with me,” Holtmann said. “You’re a (No.) 2 seed for a reason. By and large it was a special year with a conclusion that is one we’ve got to lean into. It’s incredibly disappointing.”
The game marked the end of CJ Walker’s time at Ohio State. He will pursue a professional career, but Young’s future status is unknown. He could return with the NCAA allowing all players, regardless of grade, an opportunity to add a year because of COVID.
“This is my last time putting on this Ohio State jersey,” Walker said. “I’m not going to let this define me, the Ohio State program or the future to come.”
There will be changes to the roster, and possibly among the staff, going forward. But those are all issues to be dealt with in the coming days and weeks. Friday night, there was just disappointment.
“I know our guys are hurting,” Holtmann said. “I think we all are.” ajardy@dispatch.com @Adamjardy