Can the Ohio State basketball team avoid another March collapse?

Chris Holtmann’s team has limped to the end of the regular season with a trio of concerning losses and several injuries to significant players. The recent slide looks eerily similar to 2021 as the Ohio State basketball team rode a troubling losing streak into the Big Ten Tournament before an early exit in the NCAA Tournament a week later. In order to avoid a similar fate, Ohio State needs to get healthier, tighten up defensively and have a third scorer emerge.

The Buckeyes ended last regular season on a 4-game losing streak, taking them out of contention for a top-4 seed and a double-bye prior to the trip to Indianapolis, which sounds a lot like the current slump. Ohio State advanced to the Big Ten title game, losing a thriller to Illinois in overtime, but a first-round collapse against 15-seed Oral Roberts was right around the corner. Holtmann has to figure out a way to steer clear of another disappointing March.

This February, Ohio State won five out of seven games including road victories over Michigan and Illinois but struggled to sustain that level of play towards the end of the regular season. Not only did the Buckeyes get blown out at Maryland but they also lost to a pair of unranked opponents at home within the last week. Even though the defense has been below average lately, a lot of the struggles can be attributed to ongoing injuries.

Joey Brunk had to start a couple of games down the stretch as Zed Key and Kyle Young continue to miss time with injuries. Key went down with a right ankle sprain in the loss at Maryland and is a game-time decision for Thursday. Young missed the last two games after suffering a concussion on March 1 and won’t be available in the Big Ten opener. Meechie Johnson also hurt his ankle but Holtmann said there wasn’t much swelling and he should be ready to go.

The team took Monday off as they prepare for Indianapolis.

Ohio State played seven games in a 16-day span to end the regular season and it clearly took a toll on the roster. After getting a chance to rest on Monday, the Buckeyes returned to practice the following day. Holtmann hasn’t been able to run a lot of normal practices with such a packed schedule so getting back to a more consistent structure could help to regain momentum. Nothing will help more than Key or Young returning to the court though.

The Buckeyes will meet Penn State in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday night with a chance to hit the 20-win mark for a fifth straight year. This Ohio State basketball team should be able to handle the Nittany Lions after beating them twice during the regular season but advancing any further will be a challenge without a complete rotation. Now that Young has been ruled out for the first round, Justin Aherns and Eugene Brown will have to take on more responsibility.

Ohio State is 6-1 against Penn State since 2018.