Ohio State basketball team blows 18-point lead at home to Indiana

Heading into Tuesday night's game, I had some sense of optimism. The Ohio State basketball team was 9-3 at home heading into a matchup with an Indiana team that had just gotten smacked by Penn State in Bloomington. I thought the Buckeyes could actually win a game for once.

I underestimated the incompetence of Chris Holtmann. The Buckeyes had a 13-point lead at halftime and had a lead as great as 18. It didn't matter. They lost to Indiana 76-73. The Buckeyes have now lost eight of their last nine games, regardless of where they have been played.

How does a team with an 18-point lead blow it in the second half? Turnovers. The team had 12 of them total and Roddy Gayle had five of them himself. Once IU started to make some shots, the Buckeyes got tight and started turning it over left and right.

Ohio State also missed shots down the stretch. Once the game got to single-digits again, they choked. They took on the personality of their head coach, who is a choker. Well-coached teams don't choke away 18-point leads at home against bad teams.

This is the mountaintop of bad performances for the Buckeyes this season. I actually think it might be getting to the point that Gene Smith will have no other option but to fire Holtmann before he retires. I mean, how can he watch this and think things will be any better next year?

Holtmann is cooked. The Ohio State basketball team is cooked. The season is cooked. There is nothing left to play for now except a miracle run in the Big Ten Tournament. I wouldn't be shocked if this team lost the rest of their games.

I really can't wait for the Holtmann era to end. We can only hope it will be after this season.