Ohio State basketball: Defense falls apart, winning streak ends

The Ohio State basketball team had won seven straight games coming into today, but that winning streak came to an end because of poor defense.

The Ohio State basketball team wasn’t able to keep up their stellar play against TTUN. Despite Duane Washington going for a career-high 30 points, they lost 92-87 in a game that lived up to the hype. It was probably the best college basketball game played this season.

Ohio State allowed Michigan to hit too many three-pointers in the first half. TTUN hit 10 of them and was shooting 77% from deep in that first half. Even with them hitting all of those threes, Michigan only led Ohio State by two at halftime.

The problem was the Buckeyes continued to not play defense in this game. They allowed TTUN to shoot 53% from the field and 48% from three. You can’t win games if you allow teams to shoot that well. The defense has been a concern over the last few games.

E.J. Liddel was good in this game as well. He scored 23 points on 7-15 shooting and was a force down low. The problem was his defense on Hunter Dickenson. Dickenson had 22 points and 9 rebounds and Liddell was his primary defender. He was a major problem.

Anytime you give up 92 points, it’s tough to win. Chris Holtmann has to get his team to play better defense against really good teams like this. Playing this type of defense will get you bounced in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament when you play a good team.

Fans certainly would have helped Ohio State’s chances of winning. Home-court advantage is always a factor. If not for a terrible no-look behind the back pass by Justice Sueing that resulted in an easy layup and free throw, the Buckeyes might have emerged victorious.

Ohio State still has a chance to win some big games in March. This was a wake-up call though. They need to get better if they want to challenge the truly elite.