Fresh off a 72-48 shellacking issued by Wisconsin on senior day to end the regular season with a 22-9 mark, Thad Matta's basketball Buckeyes enter the postseason with a chance to wipe the slate clean.
Whether or not they will be able to erase the sting from the embarrassing loss and put together a stretch of solid play against increasingly good competition is far from a long shot as evidenced by a 2-3 mark against ranked teams and a 4-7 record away from the friendly (albeit two-thirds full) confines of the Schott.
Interestingly enough, despite entering the B1G tournament as the sixth seed (their lowest since 2005) at least one gambling house lists Ohio State as having the second-best odds (7:2) to win it all behind heavy favorite Wisconsin. One has to wonder if those odds are influenced by Matta's historical success in the league tournament.
At the same time, it's hard to get too worked up over those odds considering gambling houses had the Wisconsin game as a pick 'em until closer to tip-off when the Badgers emerged as a modest three to four point favorite.
Often, postseason success comes down to individual matchups and which team is more together and truly interested in being there. This particular variable is more pronounced in college football's bowl season but there's no question teams featuring players who are still playing for each other instead of themselves or already have one eye on what's next struggle at this time of the year.
The good news for Ohio State is freshman D'Angelo Russell has shown heart of a champion all season long, carrying the Buckeyes for large stretches while always valuing, involving and cheering on his teammates. Not once has he shown up one of his guys on the floor, showing a maturity far beyond his years in the face of some frustrating and/or ineffective efforts from running mates, many of which are much older. It's a safe bet he won't be holding anything back in Chicago as he most likely enters the final few games of his collegiate career before moving on the the NBA.
For all their warts as players, seniors Sam Thompson and Shannon Scott can be counted on to put forth the proper effort but after combining to shoot 4/19 on senior day, there's no guarantee their skill can match their will on any given night in scoring support of Russell. Add to that mix Jae'Sean Tate, the freshman spark plug who has shown more development and all-out hustle than anyone on the roster.
Unfortunately, countering the consistent effort and heart shown by Russell, Scott, Thompson and Tate is the often disinterested, enigmatic and lethargic play from Amir Williams and Marc Loving.
Amir's career has been well-chronicled and as a senior, his performance this season is not all that unexpected. With just a handful of games, maybe even a maximum of two left in his career, it's still fair to wonder exactly what type of engagement level he'll show in Chicago and the Dance.
More frustrating has been Loving's disappearing act kicked off by a three-game suspension handed down the university. One of the worst kept secrets in town, Loving was allegedly benched for burning the hippie lettuce just days after turning in his best performance of the year. The sophomore from Toledo torched 16th-ranked Maryland for 19 points on 5/5 from downtown with six rebounds in Ohio State's finest overall performance of the season.
Following the suspension which ran nearly parallel to Tate's emergence, Loving's minutes have plummeted along with his production and perceived desire to compete. He's averaging just 16.8 minutes and 3.2 points per game over the stretch compared to 29.3 minutes and 10.7 points over the first 10 conference games. Whether or not he is interested and can successfully rediscover his mojo would go a long way in helping Ohio State avoid a disappointing end to an uneven season.
With such inconsistency up and down the roster it's hard to bank on Ohio State making a deep run in the B1G tournament. And if they can't win at least three games in hopes of improving to at least a six seed in the NCAA tournament which would keep them from having to play a one or two seed in their second game, their season could be over before the Madness reaches the second weekend.
Still, we'll watch and hope that Ohio State can put it all together and make anywhere from a modest to shocking run in the month when it matters most.
