INDIANAPOLIS — In Ohio State’s last three games, Marc Loving has made 10-of-15 attempts from 3-point range and there’s a pretty simple explanation as to why.
It’s not that Loving is taking better shots. He’s not being defended any differently than he has all season. It’s not even Loving’s current state of mind.
All the credit goes to ‘Thad Matta Shooting School.’
That’s what Ohio State’s head coach jokingly says anyway. The Buckeyes, in particular Loving, are reaping the benefits of something new Matta started here in recent weeks.
“Honestly Marc, of all my students, he’s made the most progress,” Matta said following Ohio State’s 79-75 win over Penn State in the Big Ten tournament Thursday night. “We joke about it, but I’m being serious. I’m doing stuff I’ve never done before and Marc, the last couple weeks, he’s up to about a 300-level course right now.”
What is the ‘Thad Matta Shooting School,’ you ask?
It’s not crazy, nothing complex. Just a simple series of drills designed to improve the Buckeyes’ overall level of shooting. Redshirt sophomore guard Kam Williams estimated Ohio State began classes in practice about two weeks ago.
“It’s definitely cool to get extra reps up in practice before we start going and basically it’s just pull-up left, right and a series of catch-and-shoot,” Williams explained. “I think it’s cool whenever you get a chance to get more shots up.”
The general consensus in Ohio State’s locker room was that Williams was Matta’s top student. As the Buckeyes’ top shooter all season, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Williams is the team’s curve-destroyer, if you will.
There was also little debate, though, as to who has seen the most benefit from it. That’s Loving, who scored a team-high 24 points in Thursday's win over the Nittany Lions and was 3-for-5 from the 3-point line.
“The best student, I would probably have to say is Kam; he probably makes the most shots,” freshman point guard JaQuan Lyle said. “But for Marc, it’s paying off more so I think Marc is learning more from it.”
Prior to this recent stretch, Loving — who shot 46 percent from 3-point range last season — was only shooting 31.3 percent on the year from downtown. He’s upped his percentage to 34.9 thanks to these last three games and that’s, in large part, presumably, to the ‘Thad Matta Shooting School’ he has been enrolled in now for a couple of weeks.
Loving isn’t disputing it.
“Coach Matta’s shooting school,” Loving said in response to what’s been the key for him in recent weeks. “We do shooting school every day in practice so just being able to knock down shots from good positions JaQuan and A.J. [Harris] put me in.”
Ohio State will need a huge performance from Loving — and virtually everyone else on the team — on Friday if it wants to pull an upset over second-seeded Michigan State. The Spartans have had the Buckeyes’ number in their two meetings here in recent weeks.
The matchup with Michigan State is the final exam, if you will, and Ohio State is hoping all of it studying pays off in a big way.
“At this time of the season it’s either win or go home,” Loving said, “and we don’t want to go home.”
