Ohio State basketball continues to take brutal losses

The Ohio State basketball team had a terrible month of January. In fact, they came into Thursday’s game against Wisconsin having lost 7 of their last 9 games. They were hoping to get a much-needed win against a bad Badgers team. Instead, they got more of the same.

Chris Holtmann got ejected in the first half of yet another loss as the Buckeyes fell 65-60. They allowed Wisconsin to shoot 52% in the first half and were down 43-27. It was a deficit that they couldn’t overcome, despite playing better defense in the second half.

The Buckeyes didn’t give up, I’ll give them that. They went on a 13-0 run late in the second half to cut the lead to one with just under a minute left. The fact that Holtmann got ejected and Wisconsin made four free throws that went along with that ended up making a massive difference.

Brice Sensabaugh had perhaps his most frustrating game of the season. He fouled out with over 9 minutes left in the game. He left with 13 points and was the main source of offense for the Buckeyes at that point. After that, the half-court offense struggled even more.

The lack of ball movement was once again a key reason why Ohio State wasn’t able to win the game. They had 16 turnovers to just 9 assists. Isaac Likekele had 5 of them himself. It wasn’t just that they weren’t moving the ball to get good shots, they were throwing the ball away carelessly.

This is yet another close game that the Buckeyes weren’t able to close down the stretch. It’s clearly a theme with this team. They are who they are at this point in the season. It’s their identity that they can’t close out games when they get really close at the end.

This Ohio State basketball team is extremely frustrating to watch. I’m not sure what’s left for them to play for at this point. They won’t be making the NCAA Tournament, that’s for sure.