The Ohio State basketball team has had a very up-and-down season so far. In some games, they look like a team that has learned from the failures of last season under Jake Diebler. In others, they look like a team that is destined to extend their streak of missing the NCAA Tournament.
Tuesday night was a game that the Buckeyes should have won 99 times out of 100. They were taking on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who were barely over .500. After busting out to a 10-0 lead, the Ohio State Buckeyes found themselves behind. They did hold a three-point lead at half, though.
However, this game ended up going to overtime. Quite frankly, with the game being at home, it was not a game that should have come close to going into overtime. It would have been worse had they lost. Yet, Diebler's team was able to pull out the 82-74 victory.
Ohio State basketball team avoids a terrible loss vs. Minnesota
Bruce Thornton had 23 points, and Juni Mobley added 26 to lead the Buckeyes in this game. Once again, the bench struggled to provide much in terms of scoring. The three bench players in this game combined for just six points. That's something that is a major concern.
Before this game, ESPN's Joe Lunardi had Ohio State as one of his last four teams in. A loss to the Golden Gophers surely would have knocked them square off the bubble. A win avoids disaster and keeps a bad loss off the resume, which would have been worse since it was at home.
Ohio State has a massive chance at a resume-boost on Friday night. The Buckeyes take on TTUN, which is the third-ranked team in the country. Winning that game would put them squarely in the field of 68 and give them some cushion if they were to lose a couple more games.
Diebler doesn't have a program-defining win in the Big Ten Conference yet. Winning at Michigan would certainly qualify as one.