Jae'Sean Tate emerged from Ohio State's locker room Tuesday night roughly five minutes before the Buckeyes hosted sixth-ranked Michigan State. He wasn't in uniform going through warmups with his teammates, of course, but besides that, he looked exactly like he would any other time the Buckeyes played this season.
Tate stood underneath the basket where Ohio State warmed up and was dancing as his teammates went through layup lines. He was encouraging each and every guy, clapping along, as they threw down a dunk or pulled up for a mid-range jump shot. He was doing exactly what the leader of a team would do despite the fact he wasn't playing.
This particular moment illustrated precisely why it was such a crushing blow to the Buckeyes when just an hour or so prior, Ohio State announced Tate would be sidelined for the remainder of the season due to a left shoulder injury that would require surgery. For a team that was attempting to play its way into the NCAA tournament, this was a devastating loss.
"Jae’Sean is kind of the heart and soul of this basketball team," Buckeyes coach Thad Matta would say afterward.
Michigan State throttled Ohio State in the second half Tuesday thanks in large part to a hot shooting night spearheaded by Bryn Forbes. The Spartans' senior guard was 7-for-10 from behind the 3-point line and Michigan State was 14-of-22 as a team in the 81-62 victory.
Had Tate been able to go it's impossible to tell how Tuesday played out. Would the final outcome have been different? Probably not — he's not going to make up for a 19-point margin. But it's still interesting to think about. The game itself could have been a bit different.
Ohio State, though, with just two games remaining now in its regular season, doesn't have time to think about such things.
"It kind of is what it is," Matta said. "It’s one of those things that you hate. I hate it for Jae’Sean, but with that said we’ve got to find a way to regroup and get ready to go again.”
“We still had to go out there and play," junior forward Marc Loving added. "There’s nothing we can do about that. Each guy with a jersey on has to go out there and give all they have.”
The Buckeyes started freshman Mickey Mitchell in Tate's place. Mitchell is a similar type of athletic wing, but where Ohio State missed Tate most is on the offensive end. Mitchell's not there just quite yet.
Matta said the Buckeyes' starting lineup will somewhat been in flux now that Tate is no longer there. Starting Kam Williams to give Ohio State another true guard is also an option going forward.
"You can’t sit around and make excuses, you can’t feel sorry for yourself, you’ve gotta go play," Matta said. "There’s minutes for guys, there’s opportunities for guys and they’ve gotta do the job to take advantage of it.”
But there's more to replacing Tate than just filling in for the 11.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. His impact goes beyond that.
Tate sat at the end of the bench Tuesday night encouraging teammates as they tried to mount a comeback against the Spartans, but it was to no avail. It's just not the same as when he's doing the same thing in uniform.
Ohio State's NCAA tournament hopes took a big hit when that final horn sounded and Michigan State celebrated a 19-point win. But perhaps the even bigger blow was delivered hours before when it was announced Tate was done for the year.
"Everybody knows Jae’Sean is our guy, our tough guy; the guy to pick us up when we’re down, you know, make big-time plays when we need it," freshman point guard JaQuan Lyle said. "He wasn’t there tonight but like coach Matta said before the game, one man down, next man up."
But with a player like Tate, there's more to it than that. It's that much tougher to replace your 'heart and soul.'
