Scarlet and Game
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Ohio State Basketball: A look at Buckeyes’ loss and SEC fiasco prior to it

By Charlie Lockhart

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts in the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions during quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts in the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions during quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE – FEBRUARY 09: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team against the Florida Gators at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 09, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE – FEBRUARY 09: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team against the Florida Gators at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 09, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

While waiting to watch the Ohio-State Maryland game I sat through the end of the Tennessee-LSU game, and I wish I could have those minutes of my life back. I saw undisciplined athletes who played as though it was their first game of college basketball. And the officiating was even worse.

After nearly every foul or out-of-bounds situation the refs had to check the monitor to see if the call was correct or the clock operator had the right time. After taking plenty of time checking things out they usually decided everything was just fine.

Toward the end of regulation the game was tied and I was hoping one team would score to put me out of my misery. Nope, they had to go to overtime.

Shortly into OT I had to change the channel so I wouldn’t throw something through the TV. I turned back to the game when I thought it was about to end. Guess what, the game was tied.

I was sick when Tennessee missed a shot that could have won the game and an LSU player picked the ball up in traffic between the top of the key and halfcourt. Fortunately for me, and others who appreciate good basketball, a Volunteer hit the Tiger hard enough that the officials had to call a foul with .6 seconds to play.

Then of course they had to check the monitor to see if the time was correct. That seemed to take as much time as if the two teams played another OT.

Now for the coaching blunder:

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Freshman Ja’vonte Smart calmly stepped up and hit his first free throw to give LSU a one point lead. 99.9 percent of head coaches would have instructed Smart to hit the rim while missing the second. That would essentially end the game because there wouldn’t be enough time for the opposing team to get off a decent shot after grabbing the rebound.

Nope, the freshman hit the free throw which allowed Tennessee to call timeout and set up a play. It was well designed and executed but fortunately the shot didn’t drop or it would have tied the game.

But there was more. Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes went on the court apparently to have words with the official who called the late foul. Another ref stopped him and steered him back the direction he came from.

Now, I could finally watch the end of the first half of the Ohio State-Maryland game.

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I hope the Buckeyes will play the first televised game of the day from here on out or at least follow a Big Ten contest. If they follow another SEC game I may miss watching them play. My TV may be broken before the network switches over to the Ohio State game.

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