Well that was harder than it was supposed to be. Penn State came into Columbus and put a major, major scare into a Buckeye team trying to notch as many victories as it can to build up its postseason resume.
It took the entire game, a bushel of turnovers and some questionable refereeing, but the game finally went into the win column with a 74-70 Ohio State victory. Wipe your brow Buckeye fans, here’s three things we learned.
Beating the dead turnover horse
If this team could just take care of the ball, it would make life easier on itself. When Ohio State is strong and purposeful with the ball on the perimeter (aka Rutgers), it gets into its offense and has the guys to play with anyone.
Unfortunately, there’s been too many games where the Buckeyes have been too careless with the ball. You have to give the opponent some credit, but some of the plays are just a serious lack of judgement and tentativeness.
At this point, you are what you are, and this team doesn’t take care of the ball very well against pressure. If I’m playing against this team going forward, and I have the guys to do it, it’s pressure on the guards all day, every day.
Next … The positive spin
Well, at least it was a win without an effective Kaleb Wesson
The prevailing thought is that as Ohio State’s big man goes, so too does the fortunes of the scarlet and gray. But today, Kaleb Wesson only had just six points, fouled out yet again, and didn’t allow the offense to run through him.
But Ohio State still won. Yeah, this game isn’t going to win any beauty pageants, but the silver lining in all of it is that the team found a way to win despite it’s most consistent and threatening scoring option not being on top of his game.
There’s something to be said about that. Or so I think.
Next … So, about the zebras
Big Ten refs are crazy bad this year
Look, I’m not usually one to complain about the zebras, but Kaleb Wesson got a raw deal again today. On top of that, the consistency and skill level of the refs this year — at least in the Ohio State games I’ve watched — lack something to be desired.
We had travels not being called, bodies flying all over the court without calls, and phantom foul calls at other times. I know it’s a tough job, but at what point do we start to re-evaluate the spirit of being an official and who’s out there?
Who’s with me?
