The basketball Buckeyes had an impressive 52-35 win at #17 Marquette this afternoon.  Despite LaQuinton Ross scoring zero points!  Scott, Thompson and Craft got 13, 13 & 10 to make up the difference.  Plus a shutdown defense that held Marquette to 19 at halftime and 16 in the second half.

Wish I'd have had a chance to see this one.  Were both teams just deliberately trying to slow the game down, or were people being sloppy?  That is a really low-scoring game for D-I ranked teams.  And I'm not saying I expect us to be <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/jack-taylor-scores-109-points-233015189--ncaab.html">putting up absolutely ridiculous scores</a> ... I'm aware that we don't have the bodies to play at a full sprint for 40 minutes, and Craft is more known as a defensive pain-in-the-@$$ and floor leader than an offensive show-stealer ... but we're still going to need to get above 52 to win most of our games this season.

^ I forgot the game was on, so I missed the entire first half. (It was on the same time as the football game) In the parts of the second half I caught, OSU was shooting okay in 2-pt range and Marquette was shooting terrible everywhere.  That first half must've been unwatchable because it was 19-19 at halftime and both teams were shooting in the 20-30 percent range.  I remember seeing the 1st/2nd half team FG% breakdown in the Dispatch's boxscore on Sunday.  But ESPN's on-line boxscore only has the full game stats at http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400504464

 

OSU shot better in the 2nd to finish 22-52 (42.3%) but was only 3-18 from 3-pt range.  MQ got worse in the 2nd to finish 10-53 (18.9%) and 1-18 from 3-pt range.  OSU's defense probably helped keep MQ's percentage down, but they were cold.  OSU outscored MQ 33 to 16 in the 2nd and actually left some points on the table by only making 5 of 15 FT's.  MQ is supposed to be defensively sound, so maybe that had something to do with the low score.  But the 3-pt scoring was OSU's weakness last year.  If Ross, Smith and Scott can't hit the 3 consistently, they'll need Della Valle to hit them coming off the bench - or find another year of eligibility for Jon Diebler!

Based on the game play so far, how far do you think OSU will get in March Madness?  I say sweet 16.

^IMO, it depends on if L. Ross goes back to playing like he was towards the end of last season.  Sky is the limit if he does.  If he doesn't, Sweet 16 would be as high as I would bet.

I'm not even sure we'll get that far.  We're getting a lot of respect in the rankings due to our overperformance last year (and of course our current ranking would put us in the Elite Eight again).  That said, these aren't exactly top-flight teams that we're having mediocre wins against.

 

Granted, there's a lot of basketball to be played between now and March, and we've got a lot of upperclassmen with playing experience now.  (By contrast, look at the lack of respect Indiana got, going from a #1 seed last year to unranked to start the season.)  I have no doubt that we'll make excellent defensive team efforts that will get us over the hump on a lot of games, including in the brutal Big Ten, but I still think that we simply don't have the firepower to match that elite tier of teams that will be able to find ways to make shots even against our defense.  Maybe those scoring threats will emerge, like they did last year when Craft started to become a more viable scoring threat and Ross gained confidence and competence as a secondary shooter.  That certainly made the difference in how we made it as far as we did in March Madness.  And I made those same comments about our lack of firepower then and we still made it to the Elite Eight by getting just enough offense, including some impressive clutch shooting, to get us over the hump with the defense keeping games locked tight.

 

I think in one of the posts that got lost in the UOquake, I noted at one point last season that in our winning streak that went through the last part of the regular season and the Big Ten tournament that we were basically always good for at least 60, but not much more.  Our turnaround came on the defensive side, when suddenly no one could score more than 60 on us.  We held Michigan State to 60, Indiana to 58, Illinois to 55, Michigan State (in the B10 tourney) to 58, and Wisconsin to 43 in the Big Ten tournament final (in that last game, we weren't good enough for 60 ourselves, but 50 was good enough to get the job done).

I'm gonna agree with Hts121 and most of what Gramarye said.  LaQuinton Ross is the key to topping out at the Sweet 16 vs. anything better. 

 

I remember saying in one of server-crash-removed posts last year that Ross was our "Javelle McGee".  Meaning, he was equally capable of producing a great play or a terrible play in any given possession.  But then, he seemed to put all together and went on a late season run.  Exploding for 53 points in Buckeye's last three tournament games.  Now he's showing signs of reverting back to "Javelle McGee" form.  He's only scored 7 points in the last three games (0-Marquette; 4-American U.; 3-Wyoming).  More about that at  http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2013/11/24/slow-start-a-concern-for-ross-buckeyes.html

 

Without an effective Ross, the team is as Gramarye described - defensively strong but limited offensively.  With an effective Ross, the team can have a potent offense to go along with their strong defense.

Well, I don't know whether what happened with Notre Dame should be called an epic meltdown by ND or a furious defensive rally by OSU, or perhaps a little bit of both.  Talk about rediscovering how to score off of turnovers in the nick of time (along with some clutch free throw shooting and drawing a critical fifth foul on the ND point guard to take him out and leave a less confident ball-handler going up against our D).

 

Of course, most teams wouldn't give up an 8-point lead with a minute to go like that, so I still have trouble seeing us as a Final Four team, to put it mildly.  But a win is a win, and we keep the undefeated season alive for the moment.  (I have to admit I'm worried about where we stand in the Big Ten when the curtain falls on this regular season, though, let alone the NCAA's.)

 

I also have a sidenote from another team that just crossed my ticker: Wichita State, the 9-seed that took us out of the tournament in the Elite Eight last year and went to the Final Four instead of us.  Apparently that wasn't just a flash in the pan.  They're now 12-0, ranked #11 overall, and have beaten BYU, Tennessee, Alabama, and Saint Louis (not as big a name as the others, but 11-2 and 1st in the Atlantic 10).  I saw them flash across my screen because they also just beat 7-3 N.C. Central despite a 37-point showing from NCC's point guard.  (Schools like that are nightmares in the early NCAA tournament rounds, too: Stephen Curry at Davidson, Harold Arceneaux at Weber State, Wally Szczerbiak at Miami (OH), etc. are just so tough to prepare for, and if they decide to have a career day, they can take out putative title contenders in the first or second game of the tournament.)  I still obviously wish we could have gotten by them in March Madness last year--I would have liked to see how we could do against Louisville--but it does make me feel a little better that they appear to be the real deal and not just a mid-seed who got hot at the perfect time.

The basketball Buckeyes almost had a comeback last night at Michigan State that rivaled the Notre Dame game. #5 ranked MSU built up a 17-point lead over #3 ranked OSU with 7 minutes left.  Then OSU went on a 20 to 3 run to force overtime.  MSU won it in OT though.

Yeah, I half-wish I could have gotten somewhere with ESPN to watch it, though I would have been heartbroken at the end.  But seriously, MSU was ranked #1 not so long ago and we were playing in their house.  This OSU team was never going to run the table (not so long ago, we were talking about whether they were a serious Sweet Sixteen threat), but we did just take Michigan State to overtime in the Izzone.  Sure, we ran out of gas in overtime, but we would have beat them in regulation with that run if we had "only" been down sixteen points at the start of it instead of seventeen.

 

Memo: Don't fall behind by 17 points against a top-five team.

 

Scratch that.  Memo: Don't fall behind by 17 points.

 

Loss notwithstanding, I'm feeling better about our chances in the tournament now than I was at the start of the season.  Younger guys are growing up and we seem to be getting more quality bench minutes than I'd have expected.  Hopefully we can return the favor to Izzo when MSU comes calling in Columbus in the last game of the regular season.  As for our ranking in the meantime, who really cares?

#20 Iowa upsets OSU today in the Schott.  That 15-game winning streak just morphed into a 2-game losing streak.  Welcome to the Big Ten schedule.

... make that a 3-game losing streak with a loss at Minny.

 

Next three games are against weaker Big Ten teams, so the losing streak should end.  But its troubling that this team can't beat the strong ones.

... make that a 4-game losing streak.  Lost at Nebraska!!!  Sheesh!!!

Losing streak is over.  whoop de doo

Losing streak is back on.  Coach Matta's teams were 17-0 against Penn State.  Now 17-1.  And this was against a Penn State team that had gone 1-6 in Big Ten play before last night.  Just awful.

 

The Buckeyes play at #14 Wisconsin and at #15 Iowa in their next two games.  So don't expect any improvement.

Whoopie!  Wisconsin is playing worse than OSU.

 

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400510008

Just when you're ready to write off these basketball buckeyes - they pull you back in with a good game versus a good team.

 

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400510013

The basketball Buckeyes might just be turning their season around.  They've won 6 of their last 7 games.  Saturday's win against Minnesota was impressive - eventually.

 

The first half was awful (down 10 at halftime) - the second half was dominating (outscoring the Gophers by 28).  The Bucks abandoned their half-court offense and played an up-tempo full-court style in the second half.  IMO - a style much more suited to OSU's lineup.  Sam Thompson had a big game.  Plus, it was good to see an Ohio team beat a Pitino team last Saturday.

 

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400510041

Just when you're ready to have confidence in these basketball buckeyes - they let you down with a bad game versus a bad team.  What is this kryptonite that Penn State has over OSU?  PSU only has 5 big ten wins - and two are over OSU!

 

That said, last night's game showed how valuable Craft is to this team.  Craft got two early fouls in the first half and two more in the second - only playing 19 minutes.  For as much junk as Craft gets, this team is better with him on the court.

The game against MSU yesterday was on regular broadcast TV here in Akron, so I had a chance to see the team in action for the first time in a while.

 

The 69-67 win over Michigan State was a great Senior Day win for Aaron Craft and company, but it did not at all overwhelm me at all.  The 2-point final margin matches that which Craft earned on a questionable goaltending call against Michigan State--though, of course, the margin could have been quite a bit larger if OSU had been able to hit free throws down the stretch.

 

I saw very little off-the-ball movement on offense, which doesn't work very well unless you've got people who can create their own shot (i.e., catch at the spot they want to start in, then make their moves).  LaQuinton Ross remains the closest we've got to someone who can do that.  To put it mildly, he's not a Deshaun Thomas, Evan Turner, or Jared Sullinger.

 

The free throw shooting was atrocious.  Embarrassing.

 

Defensively, we made critical stops, don't get me wrong, but even with all of those (and with MSU in almost constant foul trouble), we gave up 67 points.  We've seldom scored that many since the start of Big Ten play; in our last ten games, we made it to 68+ only three times (in wins against Iowa and Northwestern).

 

Much as I hate to say it, I don't see this team going very far in March.  There is too much there that opponents can exploit.

OSU plays Dayton in the first round of the tourney.  The Dayton players were pretty amp'ed up about drawing OSU, game is one of the first on Thrusday, 12:15 in Buffalo.

 

I'm biased, being a UD grad, but think UD can beat OSU.  Beating Syracuse will be another matter.

I'm speaking as a Buckeye fan and alum, but you're right, OSU is definitely beatable.  They've shown a lot of flaws and surprisingly little growth over the course of the season.  Their free throw shooting has been abysmal, which puts them at a significant disadvantage in close games and will make it difficult for them to protect narrow leads.  They have no convincing three-point shooters, allowing opposing defenses to crowd the paint (even if it means giving up the occasional 3, we just haven't hit them consistently enough to make people stretch their defenses).  And the inside play of Williams and McDonald has been spotty, especially on the offensive end--not just regarding scoring, but also on the offensive glass.

 

Even if we get past Dayton, I will be truly stunned if we get past Syracuse in the second round.  I still think Syracuse is a legitimate Final Four threat--the teams ranked above them in their bracket are Kansas and Florida, and they're both definitely beatable (look what happened to Florida in the SEC title game).

Also as a Buckeye fan and alum, I agree with Gramarye's analysis.  OSU might beat UD (although I wouldn't be shocked by an upset) but I don't see how they can beat Syracuse.  The Orange's zone defense just plays up OSU's biggest offensive weakness: poor outside shooting.

I wouldn't be shocked by an upset

 

Not shocked.  Clutch shot Flyers.

Hopefully this will help make OSU and its fans a little less arrogant, but it probably won't.

Hopefully this will help make OSU and its fans a little less arrogant, but it probably won't.

 

Hopefully this will help make OSU haters a little less bitter, but it probably won't.

Who's bitter? I was cheering for OSU (not a super fan, but my sister goes there and I have no reason to root for anything Dayton...), but you have to admit that OSU likes to act like the big badass of the state, so it's kind of fun to see them knocked down a peg or two.  I have no real dog in this fight...my alma mater didn't even make the tourney!

Who's bitter? I was cheering for OSU (not a super fan, but my sister goes there and I have no reason to root for anything Dayton...), but you have to admit that OSU likes to act like the big badass of the state, so it's kind of fun to see them knocked down a peg or two.  I have no real dog in this fight...my alma mater didn't even make the tourney!

 

Well, Ohio State is the big badass of the state, though.  One loss (to my alma mater ;) ) doesn't change that.

Hopefully this will help make OSU and its fans a little less arrogant, but it probably won't.

 

Um, the two recent alums/fans to post before you said that were both admitting that OSU was definitely beatable.

 

ETA: In fact, exactly one of the weaknesses I pointed out came back to bite us.  We shot only 67% from the free-throw line.  If we'd made even one more of those, we'd at least have forced overtime.  In almost every other category, our stats were actually extremely close to UD's.)

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/dayton-flyers-ohio-state-buckeyes-201403200443/

 

 

if its any consulation to osu fans, harvard beat cinci

Who's bitter? I was cheering for OSU (not a super fan, but my sister goes there and I have no reason to root for anything Dayton...), but you have to admit that OSU likes to act like the big badass of the state, so it's kind of fun to see them knocked down a peg or two.  I have no real dog in this fight...my alma mater didn't even make the tourney!

 

Well, Ohio State is the big badass of the state, though.  One loss (to my alma mater ;) ) doesn't change that.

 

Just saying, it's nice to see David beat Goliath sometimes.

I'd just like to point our that of the Ohio teams to make the big dance UD is the only one moving to the next round.  Great game by OSU, but you can see why they don't want play the better teams in state.  They have little to gain, and a lot to lose.

Just saying, it's nice to see David beat Goliath sometimes.

 

If this was college football, it would definately be David beating Goliath.  But its not.  Its college basketball.  And in today's college basketball, there are no more Goliaths.  And Dayton is no David.  The Flyers have a long proud history in the tournament.

I'd just like to point our that of the Ohio teams to make the big dance UD is the only one moving to the next round.  Great game by OSU, but you can see why they don't want play the better teams in state.  They have little to gain, and a lot to lose.

 

Although I disliked the result, that was an amazing final minute.  OSU held a 2 point lead going into the final 30 seconds.  Then fouling a Dayton player shooting a three - and then that player, Dyshawn Pierre, hitting all 3 free throws to give Dayton the lead with 26 seconds left.  Then Aaron Craft retaking the lead for OSU on a lay-up with 15.5 seconds remaining.  Then Dayton's Vee Sanford banking in the game-winner with only 3.8 left.  Craft even managed a decent shot for a miracle finish that went off the rim.  Craft's final shot in his outstanding college career as it turned out.

I'd just like to point our that of the Ohio teams to make the big dance UD is the only one moving to the next round.  Great game by OSU, but you can see why they don't want play the better teams in state.  They have little to gain, and a lot to lose.

 

Right, it's very similar to why our alma mater won't agree to a series with Wright State.

We knew Craft and Smith Jr. were going to be lost to graduation for next year.  But two other players are also leaving.  One we figured might be gone, the other was a surprise.

 

Leading scorer Ross announced he was leaving for the NBA draft.  The surprise was Della Valle announcing he was leaving to play pro ball in Italy.  Maybe he can give Ross some leads, because I can't see Ross lasting in the Association.

The basketball Buckeyes got a solid pickup for next season.  Anthony Lee announced he is transferring to Ohio State.  Lee is a 6-foot-9, 230 lb post player who averaged 13.6 points and 8.6 rebounds for Temple last year.

 

Lee is a junior eligibility-wise, but he will graduate in May and can play his final season of eligibility next season for OSU.  More about this at http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10694213/temple-owls-transfer-anthony-lee-play-ohio-state-buckeyes

 

This is the kind of inside player the team could have used this year, since big man Amir Williams came up small.

OSU is getting some more inside help for the coming years.  Freshman 7-footer Trevor Thompson has decided to transfer from Virginia Tech to Ohio State.  This is after 6-foot-9, 230 lb post player Anthony Lee announced he would transfer from Temple to Ohio State earlier this month.

 

In the ESPN article linked below, they called Trevor Thompson "an athletic, promising 7-footer who also was courted by Indiana, Purdue and Butler".  They also said, "Thompson averaged 5.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game as a freshman, but went for 15 points and grabbed six rebounds at Duke in February -- and showed potential of being a big-time player."  And that "Thompson likely will sit out next season at Ohio State, but there is a chance he could request a waiver from the NCAA -- due to his father's medical condition -- to see if he could play in 2014-15."

 

More about this at http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10776671/trevor-thompson-transfers-virginia-tech-hokies-ohio-state-buckeyes

The Basketball Buckeyes began their 2014-15 season last night with a win over UMASS-Lowell.  Their next game is against Marquette on Tuesday.  Then the typical marshmallow pre-B1G schedule until that starts on Dec. 30.  Two notable exceptions to the marshmallow pre-B1G schedule is a game at Louisville on Dec. 2 and a game with North Carolina on Dec. 20 at Chicago.

 

Two biggest losses from last season's team were LaQuinton Ross and Aaron Craft.  Although I'd argue that the loss of Ross is a net gain.  Despite being the leading scorer, he was wildly inconsistent from game to game and could never really be counted on. (Ross declared early for the NBA Draft - then showed up overweight and out-of-shape at the combine and went undrafted!)  Senior Shannon Scott, the long-time back-up to Craft, will QB this season's team.  Scott will probably bring more pace and movement to the offense than the Craft-led team.  His surrounding cast is a mixture of seniors and underclassmen.

 

- Returning from last season's team is senior forward Sam Thompson and senior center Amir Williams.  Thompson took a step forward last season, rounding out his athletic game with some outside shooting.  Williams took a step backward last season, showing athletic talent but inconsistency.  If Williams doesn't improve, look for backup senior center Trey McDonald and grad student transfer forward Anthony Lee to take away his minutes.

 

- Sophomore forward Marc Loving played sparingly last season, but is a likely starter this season.  He'll be joined by freshman guard D'Angelo Russell in the starting lineup.  Russell is a 6'5" blue-chip recruit from Louisville and he is already emerging as the Buckeyes leading scorer for this season.  Another freshman, Keita Bates-Diop will likely get significant playing time.  Bates-Diop is 6'7" forward with a 7-foot-3 wingspan and is a quick athletic defender.

 

The AP has Ohio State ranked 20th to begin the season.  SI has them 13th in their season preview rankings.

The Bucs will finish 2nd in the Big 10 and make it to the 2nd round of the Big Dance.

Add Kam Williams to the group of players I mentioned earlier.  Kam is a 6'2" reshirt freshman guard and was the leading scorer in last night's win over Marquette: http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400588333

 

Kam had 15 last night against Marquette and 12 against UMASS-Lowell earlier.  Mostly on outside shooting in limited playing time.

The Bucs will finish 2nd in the Big 10 and make it to the 2nd round of the Big Dance.

 

That might be a good finish for this year's team.  So far the pre-B1G schedule has seen the basketball Buckeyes thrash the weak teams, get a good win against Marquette, and lose to the two ranked teams they played (at #5 Louisville and #24 North Carolina in Chicago).  They took that 11-2 record into the first week of B1G play and looked bad in a home loss to Iowa, then looked good (in the 2nd half) in a home win over Illinois. --- In that 2nd half against Illinois, the Buckeyes switched from zone to man-to-man defense for the first time this season.  That man-to-man defense enlived the team and allowed them to use their athleticism, force turnovers, and play a full-court game suitable to their talent.  It would be great if Matta would switch to this for the rest of the season.

 

- True frosh Russell is leading the team in scoring (17.7 PPG), 2nd in assists (5.1), 2nd in steals (1.7), but also the most turnovers (3.0).  Soph Loving is 2nd in scoring at 12.3 PPG.  Both Russell and Loving are top 3PT'ers.  Senior Thompson has 10.4 PPG and has developed into a fine all-around starter.  Freshman Kam Williams has 9.3 PPG in a limited 17.5 min/game on the strength of his 3PT shooting. 

 

- Freshman Tate, Bates-Diop and senior center McDonald are solid bench players.  Transfer senior Lee has been limited to only 11.8 min/game because of an ankle injury.  But Lee played big minutes in the 2nd half of the Illinois game.  If healthy, Lee looks like a much better inside option for the team.

 

- Starting senior point guard Scott and starting senior center Amir Williams are having an up-and-down season so far.  Up against weaker opponents, down against stronger ones.  Scott will probably remain in the starting lineup (if his role doesn't get supplanted by Russell.  Amir Williams seems to get less minutes as the team goes to a smaller lineup and/or replaces him with Lee.

 

The basketball Buckeyes play at Minnesota tonight and at Indiana on Sunday.  Here's the remaining schedule: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/194/ohio-state-buckeyes

The first six B1G games for OSU featured alternating wins and losses - and a 3-3 conference record.  Then, Coach Matta moved Loving and Amir Williams to the bench and promoted Tate and Lee to the starting lineup.  This smaller lineup, coupling with handing most of the ball-handling duties to freshman D'Angelo Russell, saw OSU win three straight games.  Two over ranked teams (Indiana and Maryland).

 

But then, with OSU up to a 6-3 conference record, and just when it looked like OSU had the right formula for victory, their 2nd-leading scorer sophomore Marc Loving was suspended indefinitely for unknown reasons:

 

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12280885/ohio-state-buckeyes-suspend-marc-loving

 

http://www.landgrantholyland.com/2015/2/4/7981657/marc-loving-ohio-state-basketball-suspended

 

Loving didn't travel with the team in a loss at Purdue earlier this week.  And he won't be with the team for today's game at Rutgers.  So it looks like more up-and-down to this up-and-down season for the basketball Buckeyes.  One very bright spot for the team continues to be true freshman D'Angelo Russell.  Russell leads the team in minutes played (32.9), points (19.4), rebounds (5.7), and is second in assists (5.2) and steals (1.80) to Shannon Scott.

The basketball Buckeyes have (sort of) righted the ship with two straight wins over B1G bottom-feeders Rutgers and Penn State.  OSU is now 8-4 in the B1G and overall 19-6.

 

They'll get face a tougher challenge tomorrow at MSU.  However, Marc Loving will be returning to the team after serving a three game suspension for ? ? ? ? .

D'Angelo Russell is now the clear leader of this season's team.  He had a triple-double at Rutgers (23 Pts, 11 Reb, 11 Ast) and has averaged 21.3 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 5.7 APG in his 12 B1G conference games.  That's the good news.  ---  The bad news is that Russell is now a lock to be a "one-and-done".  ESPN draft expert Chad Ford has Russell as #5 in his Top 100 for the NBA draft.  Draftexpress.com even had him ranked as #2 behind Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor.

 

However, it looks like Coach Matta has Russell's replacement lined up.  JaQuan Lyle, another 6'-5" guard, committed recently to OSU for next season.  From http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2015/01/30/matta-already-lands-replacement-recruit-for-russell.html:

 

"JaQuan Lyle, like Russell, is a 6-foot-5 guard who can play on or off the ball.  He is the fifth member of the Buckeyes’ 2015 class, joining point guard A.J. Harris of Dayton, shooting guard Austin Grandstaff of Rockwall, Texas, forward Mickey Mitchell of Plano, Texas, and center Daniel Giddens of Mableton, Ga."

 

"Lyle, from Evansville, Ind., is spending a postgraduate year at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., after failing to qualify academically to enroll at Oregon last fall.  He played last season at Huntington Prep in West Virginia."

Good to know Loving will be back.  And the voyeur in me is still curious as to what lay behind all those cryptic but dramatic statements about "temporarily losing the right to wear scarlet and gray," but hopefully the fact that he's back means that Matta and the department were able to sort out the problem privately.  And much as I fight my inquisitive nature on this, I really do respect trying to resolve problems involving 20-year-old kids privately without inviting a Buzzfeed circus.  But it does leave us crossing our fingers and just hoping and trusting that whatever lesson needed to be absorbed was absorbed.

The tour of Michigan didn't go well.  After a loss at MSU last weekend and a loss at MICH this weekend, the basketball Buckeyes are now 8-6 in the B1G (19-8 overall).  Both losses followed a similar pattern.  The Bucks go down by double-digits early in the game, have a halftime deficit, then play well in the second half, comeback to make the game close, but not enough to win.

 

These next two posts show a couple of reasons why the basketball Buckeyes struggled in these last two games.  And why they may continue to struggle for the rest of this season:

Good to know Loving will be back.

 

Loving is back.  But I'm not sure how much help it's been to the team.  Loving did play in the MSU & MICH games.  But he had 0 points in 5 minutes in the MSU game and only 4 points in 17 minutes in the MICH game.  Before the mystery suspension, Loving was a pretty reliable outside shooter and secondary scorer to Russell.  After the suspension, it seems like either Loving has lost his confidence, or the coaching staff has lost their confidence in Loving.

Transfer senior Lee has been limited to only 11.8 min/game because of an ankle injury.  But Lee played big minutes in the 2nd half of the Illinois game.  If healthy, Lee looks like a much better inside option for the team.

 

We can scratch the "if healthy" part for Anthony Lee.  He's missed the last two games (MSU & MICH) because of a groin injury.  It looks like injuries are going to scuttle what could have been a promising season for Lee.  Not good for the Buckeyes either.  Lee could have really helped out at an area of weakness - inside post play.

The tour of Michigan didn't go well.  After a loss at MSU last weekend and a loss at MICH this weekend, the basketball Buckeyes are now 8-6 in the B1G (19-8 overall).  Both losses followed a similar pattern.  The Bucks go down by double-digits early in the game, have a halftime deficit, then play well in the second half, comeback to make the game close, but not enough to win.

 

And this is really disappointing because it's a reversal of earlier season form.  Early in the season, we actually played pretty well out of the gate.  I wonder what changed.

 

Still looks like we'll be one of those teams that get an OK seed in the NCAA tournament, maybe even win our opening game, but then have to play a 1 or 2 seed in the second round and won't have the firepower or focus to do it.  Any seeding from a 7 to 10 would put us in that category, and that's kind of where it looks like we're headed unless we have a stellar home stretch.  We have four games left in the regular season: Nebraska, Purdue, Penn State, and Wisconsin.  If we actually beat Wisconsin, then I think we rise above a #7 seed, but I certainly don't like our chances there.