The Ohio State basketball team had a golden opportunity to get a quality win against Oregon at home on Thursday night. They led most of the game and looked like the better team. Ohio State had the chance to beat them on the court just as they did on the football field.
For a while, it looked like that's exactly what was going to happen. The Buckeyes led by as many as nine in this game but faltered down the stretch. Ohio State was leading by eight with seven minutes left. In the end, they weren't able to win, falling 73-71.
The Ohio State basketball team blows a game at home against Oregon
Bruce Thornton had 20 points on 8-16 shooting but had a really bad last shot. When the Buckeyes had a shot to win the game, Thornton bricked a three. Instead of driving to draw a foul like Oregon did on the previous possession, he settled for a three.
This was the first bad choke job that Jake Diebler has been a part of. The only other bad coaching games he's had were the routs against Auburn and Maryland. Other than that, he has done a pretty decent job in his first full year as the Ohio State basketball coach.
This finish was unacceptable, though. The Buckeyes were the better team for most of the game. They just stopped defending the three-point line. Oregon made four of their nine threes in the final five and a half minutes of this game. Ohio State just didn't go out there to defend these open shots.
Ohio State had a shot to get their third ranked win of the season. Instead, they lost a game they should have won. Those are the kinds of games that they need to win if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.