Following Ohio State's disappointing 72-48 blowout loss at home to Wisconsin at home Sunday, the majority of the post-game discussion inside the locker room came from one person.
"I did all the talking," Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. "We have no choice but to play our best basketball from this point forward.”
It wasn't just the fact Ohio State lost to the Badgers, it was the way it lost. The Buckeyes were dominated from start to finish and Wisconsin made the dismantling look quite effortless.
The worry here is such a loss could be quite deflating for a team which had been playing pretty solid basketball heading into the game having won three-straight games. The game against the Badgers was the perfect opportunity for Ohio State to find out exactly where it was as a team before the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.
That's why the 24-point defeat was so disappointing for the Buckeyes.
So, how do they get past getting blown out in their biggest game of the season?
"We knew we wanted to come in and win this game and they blew us out, but we have no choice but to shake it off," Ohio State senior point guard Shannon Scott said. "If we don’t shake this off right now we’re going to lose again in our very next game."
Is it that easy, though? Is that type of loss something you can just "shake off?"
Perhaps it's easier to do so than if the Buckeyes had suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of the Badgers. That may have been a little tougher to swallow. But at the same time, getting embarrassed on your home floor on Senior Day can't sit well either.
“The way we went out, we didn’t want to go out this way, but we’ve got to put it behind us now," Scott said. "We know they’re a great team, we knew they would come here ready to play, but it’s a new season now with the Big Ten tournament. We’re 0-0 just like they are now.”
We'll be able to find out exactly how this loss affected the Buckeyes on Thursday night when they open play in the Big Ten tournament against either Rutgers or Minnesota. Either of those teams shouldn't be much of a threat to Ohio State so it's important it comes out ready to play.
Because at this point, a loss to the Scarlet Knights or Golden Gophers would be even more devastating than the one suffered Sunday at the hands of Wisconsin.
"We’re going in to a situation now where we’re in tournaments that if you lose, you go home," Matta said. "As I told them we are going to figure out a lot about ourselves Thursday night when we see how we show up. It’s one of those things where it is what it is.”
