Ohio State basketball looks terrible in blowout at The Barn

The Ohio State basketball team got destroyed by Minnesota on Sunday evening in a game that wasn’t competitive in the second half.

The Ohio State basketball team had a big win against Nebraska earlier in the week. They beat that team down badly and it looked like the Buckeyes have finally put something together. Whatever they did that night, they did not do on Sunday night in The Barn.

Ohio State got rolled in a building they haven’t had much success in, losing to the Golden Gophers 77-60. They haven’t won in The Barn since 2015. Chris Holtmann’s squad didn’t look prepared to play this game on either end of the floor, which was disheartening to see.

The Buckeyes shot poorly yet again from the field, shooting only 31%. They were even worse from three, only shooting 26%. This is a team that has gone from being the best three-point shooting team in the conference a year ago to now being the worst.

Not only did they not shoot it well from deep, but they didn’t defend the three well either. They allowed Minnesota to shoot 41% from three. In every loss Ohio State has had, they have failed to properly defend the three. Holtmann’s team clearly has a defensive issue.

The only player who brought something offensively to the table for the Buckeyes was Duane Washington. Washington had 21 points on an efficient 7-12 shooting and 5/7 from deep. This is the first time I have used the word “efficient” to describe Washington’s play this season.

It’s a loss that isn’t surprising. Minnesota is a good team. But it’s the way Ohio State lost this game that is so disappointing. They looked like the inferior team almost from the moment the ball was tipped. This team doesn’t have an identity and we are in January now.

Holtmann’s squad gets a winnable game on Wednesday against Penn State. That’s a game they have to win because the Nittany Lions are not a top-tier team in this conference.