The Ohio State basketball team's incessant fouling costs them a win
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State basketball team looked great in their first two games of the season. They looked like a team that could beat almost anyone in college basketball. With the amount of threes they were making, it was going to be hard for either team to beat them.
Things changed in a big way on Friday night against Texas A&M. This is the first time this season that the Ohio State Buckeyes have had a ranked vs. ranked matchup. It was also the first true road game that they played. Unfortunately, the threes were not falling at nearly the same clip.
The Buckeye scored just 22 points in the first half of this game and shot just 22% from the field in that first half. Poor offense and too much fouling is what led them to lose this game to the Aggies 78-64. It was a bad look for a team that is still much-improved from last season.
The Ohio State basketball team falls to Texas A&M thanks to bad shooting and too much fouling
Ohio State shot just 34% from the field for the game. It was even worse from deep, as they shot just 27%. Poor shooting is a big reason why they weren't able to win this game, but it wasn't the only reason. Too many fouls were a big reason why they couldn't come out victorious as well.
The Aggies shot a whopping 40 free throws in this game compared to the Buckeyes shooting just 22. Texas A&M made 32 of those, so they shot 80% from the line. Ohio State made just 16 of their 22 foul shots. That was the difference in this game. Ohio State just fouled too much.
Bruce Thornton was the leading scorer for the Buckeyes, coming out with 15 points. Jake Diebler has to know that this is going to happen in some games with this style of play. When the threes aren't falling, ugly losses can happen. This is one of those ugly losses.
Hopefully, the Ohio State basketball team is going to be able to bounce back and win their next contest. They don't have a hard game until Pitt at the end of the month.