Ohio State head coach Thad Matta is pleased with the improvement his team has made over the last few weeks. However, the Buckeyes’ 12th-year coach is frustrated his team is not winning some of these recent games.
“I like the progress we’re making but I am a little bit frustrated,” Matta said Monday. “I think that’s sort of the mindset that we are trying to build right now: We’ve got to go for 40 [minutes] and there can be no mental errors, especially in crucial times.”
That’s exactly what has cost Ohio State recently. In the Buckeyes’ last three losses — at Purdue, vs. Maryland and at Wisconsin — Ohio State has been within one possession at the game’s final media timeout in each contest. The Buckeyes lost to the Boilermakers by 11, the Terrapins by five and the Badgers by 11.
There's not one sole reason for this. Lack of offensive and defensive execution, costly turnovers and missed shots in big moments are some areas costing the Buckeyes, but there are others as well.
A particular sequence in the Maryland loss stuck in Matta’s mind:
“Against Maryland, there was 2:19 on the clock and there was a timeout and I said, ‘Look, fellas, we have to play almost perfect for 2 minutes and 19 seconds. We’re in a great position,’” Matta recalled. “We turnover, dunk, we give up two offensive rebounds one on a free throw for four points.
“Those were the things that we can’t have happen so we’re looking at those, we’re showing everything that we can and seeing what we can do differently.”
These are growing pains for a young team, yes. Many of Ohio State’s players haven’t been in these situations before and they’re learning to adjust. It was never something that was going to happen overnight and bumps along the way should have been expected.
But, as Matta says, the excuse of being young has run its course. It is the middle of February, and the Buckeyes’ inexperienced players aren’t so inexperienced anymore. It’s reasonable to expect Ohio State to start winning some of these games.
The Buckeyes host Northwestern on Tuesday in a game they are favored to win. There's a chance Ohio State will be favored in its next three games after the Wildcats come to town, too. These aren't contests against teams the same caliber as the previous losses, but they may be equally as important.
It might just be the perfect opportunity for the Buckeyes to learn how to finish as a brutal three-game stretch to close the regular-season — vs. Michigan State, vs. Iowa and at Michigan State — awaits.
“We still haven’t hit our stride and that’s what we’re striving toward,” sophomore forward Jae’Sean Tate said. “We’ve just got to focus on finishing games out because we’re right there every time these past couple games and we’ve just got to focus on that.”
