Ohio State went to Iowa City and got schooled by a hungrier, tougher, and more composed Iowa team — losing 85-76.
It was always going to be a tough proposition to win on the road against a ranked team that likes to get up and down the court, but became even harder when the Buckeyes dug themselves a deep hole to start the game.
At the end of the day, it was another loss on the road where Ohio State looked like a shell of its home self. It doesn’t get any easier for the Buckeyes as they must now head back home to host a Maryland team that has enough pieces to make a deep run in March.
Here are five things we learned after watching this one.
Next … Where’s the toughness
This team has some growing to do when it comes to a tough mindset
There are times when this Ohio State team looks like it can play with anyone. Then there are moments like tonight when it faces adversity and gets all out of sorts. The Buckeyes may have fought back a little at the end of the first half and in garbage time, but it was ugly at the first sign of trouble. The final score does not indicate how lopsided this one was.
It’s a disturbing trend. The Big Ten isn’t for the faint of heart, and this team hasn’t had the mental toughness to fight through these hostile environments. Had OSU kept playing the right way when it went down early, this is a different game. Instead, team ball went out the window and this one was never coming back.
Next … Who can you lean on?
Who is the leader of this team?
It’s becoming increasingly clear that there’s not the one guy on this team that’s going to stop the bleeding. When things are going well, everyone is scoring and the collective unit swimming in the same direction. But man when it’s not, this team feels like five individuals out there trying to take sole possession of bringing the team back.
It’s not like this team doesn’t have some competitive heart, it just doesn’t have the smart killer instinct in the right places to plug a hole in the dam when it matters. At this point, the Buckeyes are who they are, and it’s going to be a problem in the postseason again.
Next … Luka Garza is a beast
You have to give Luka Garza respect
I’ve seen a lot of basketball players this year, but I’m not sure I’ve seen one as good as Iowa’s big man Luka Garza. He’s a handful down low with his strength and footwork around the rim. More than that, he seems to treat every possession like it is the last one of the game. He goes hard with reckless intent.
But that’s not all to his game. He’ll step outside and hit the three-pointer just when you think you’ve got the inside game under wraps. He has improved significantly from last year, and he was an absolute beast in this one with 23 points in all sorts of ways with guys hanging all over him.
Next … Kyle Young’s effort
If there were more guys like Kyle Young …
Kyle Young is a coach’s player. Even Purdue head coach Matt Painter went out of his way to praise the Ohio State forward. A lot of his plays don’t show up in the box score, but he leaves it all on the court. Young may not be blessed with elite athletic ability, but you can’t question his heart and effort.
He always seems to be bringing the lunch pail down low, works his tail-off to guard down on the blocks, and will hit the floor and run the court with all-out effort. I’ll take five of him and go against you all day, every day.
Next … Home vs. Away
The difference between home and away
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an Ohio State basketball team play so different on the road than what it does at home. Aside from the one outlier against Michigan on the road, every game the Buckeyes have played against good competition in a true road environment has been a disaster at points in the game.
I know it’s hard to win on the road in this league, but to look like two totally different teams at home vs. on the road is troubling. Maybe this team grows up next year, but the disparity is just too great right now to expect the team to be able to contend for any kind of championship. That’s because going on the road is the reality of playing sports.
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