Ohio State basketball collapses in second half vs. TTUN

In a very fitting way to end the regular season, the Ohio State basketball team lost at home to a team they were more talented than. TTUN came into today’s game without their best player in Hunter Dickinson and still took it to the Buckeyes in the second half, winning 75-69.

The Buckeyes took a seven-point lead into halftime. They then proceeded to let TTUN go on a 26-7 run to start the second half. Ohio State just kept turning it over and playing horrendous defense. They looked like they’d never stepped foot on the basketball court before.

In what has become a very disturbing pattern under Chris Holtmann, the Buckeyes continue to collapse against teams they are more talented than in the month of March. Ohio State now won’t have a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament. They even screwed that up.

Ohio State finished with twice as many turnovers as TTUN did, turning it over 13 times. It was extremely frustrating to watch. They also allowed 13 offensive rebounds and only grabbed 7 of their own. Turnovers and rebounds once again bit this team in the butt.

E.J. Liddell and Malaki Branham were both pretty good in this one, scoring 16  and 18 points each. It still didn’t matter. This was an extremely frustrating way to end the regular season. Now, they will be playing Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament instead of Friday.

I would be shocked if this Buckeye team didn’t get bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They don’t do anything particularly great and have clear deficiencies that teams easily exploit. It’s time that the Ohio State basketball program looks at getting a different voice to lead the team.

We’ll see if Gene Smith considers making a change, but I bet Holtmann gets one more year. I’m not sure that’s going to benefit anyone though.