Ohio State fell to 8-3 on the season Saturday following an 86-73 loss against second-ranked UCLA.
The Buckeyes trailed by just three at halftime, but the Bruins just had too much firepower in the end and that showed in the second half. Ohio State will next be in action Tuesday when it hosts Youngstown State at Value City Arena.
What follows are a few thoughts from Ohio State's loss Saturday to No. 2 UCLA.
Shooting Woes Continue
Ohio State had no shot to beat UCLA making just 5-of-24 attempts from 3-point range. The Bruins are too explosive offensively and they're nearly impossible to beat if you're going to shoot that poorly.
Off nights happen in basketball, but the bigger concern for the Buckeyes here is this is three-straight games now where they simply can't buy a shot from distance. Ohio State was 2-for-18 from 3 against Connecticut and 4-for-20 versus Florida Atlantic. Add that up and that's 11-for-62 (17.8 percent) from 3 over these last three games.
Head coach Thad Matta said prior to Saturday's game against UCLA he liked the shots his team was getting, they just weren't falling. It certainly seemed that way against the Bruins as the Buckeyes got plenty of good looks but nothing would drop. Kam Williams' inexplicable shooting slump continued as he was just 1-for-6 from 3. Williams is 2-for-17 from 3 over the last three games.
Again, slumps happen in basketball, but Ohio State needs to break out of this before it spirals even more.
Rebounding, Second-Half Turnovers Plague Buckeyes
Ohio State forced UCLA into 12 first-half turnovers and that's a big part of the reason the Buckeyes only trailed by three points at halftime. In the second half, however, it was Ohio State that couldn't take care of the ball as it committed 10 second-half turnovers.
They seemed to come at critical times, too, and one play that comes to mind was when the Buckeyes were trailing by just six and Trevor Thompson grabbed a rebound and then threw the outlet pass right to UCLA, who attacked the basket and got fouled. That stuff just can't happen.
The Bruins also outrebounded Ohio State by 10, 41-31. Micah Potter and Trevor Thompson each had eight and Marc Loving had six, but the rest of the team combined for just nine. UCLA attacked the glass all night and it certainly helped the Buckeyes couldn't seem to throw it in the ocean.
UCLA is Really Good
Again, moral victories aren't really a thing Matta or anybody on the team will talk about, but it's important to remember UCLA is just a really good basketball team and it's better than Ohio State.
The Bruins are incredibly difficult to guard because they have so many offensive weapons and nearly all of them can shoot. It truly is a pick-your-poison type deal when trying to defend them.
Ohio State did fairly well as it limited UCLA to just 48 percent shooting and 32 percent from 3-point range (10-for-31), but the pace at which the Bruins play allows them to still put up 86 points despite rather average shooting numbers.
