Thad Matta was quick and to the point Monday night.
Ohio State's head coach didn't sugarcoat things, either. He wasn't very pleased with how his team played in a 69-63 win over N.C. Central.
"I didn't like a whole lot of what I saw tonight," Matta said after the game.
| WHO | WHERE | WHEN | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Providence (1-0) | Value City Arena | 7 p.m. | BTN |
It was, by all accounts, a sloppy performance by the Buckeyes despite a win. Matta exited his postgame press conference quickly, almost as if to make it clear he wanted to immediately put the game behind him and move on to the next one.
"We'll be better Thursday," Matta said before exiting. "We better be."
Thursday has arrived and up next for the Buckeyes is Providence. The Friars come to Columbus to take on Ohio State as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games — an eight-game series featuring Big Ten teams against Big East foes.
It will be the Buckeyes' first true test of the season and they know they must be much improved to come away with a victory.
“Our focus is on just trying to get better, trying to get guys to play their best basketball and do it collectively," Matta said. "We’ve shown some signs at times to do some pretty good things, but it’s been more about us and trying to get that flow of who we are.”
Opponent Breakdown
The Kris Dunn era at Providence is over, and the Friars begin a new chapter without their two-time Big East Player of the Year this season. Dunn was the No. 5 overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the last NBA Draft, and he was a college basketball superstar. You don't simply just replace a guy like that.
But life moves on for the Friars and while this team certainly looks different without Dunn — and fellow NBA Draft pick Ben Bentil — it's still a potential NCAA tournament squad that will provide Ohio State challenges.
"I think just from the standpoint of Providence has been one of those programs for a long, long time," Matta said. "The coach, Ed Cooley, is a good friend of mine and there’s been a run of coaches through there and it’s been a great program in the Big East. They’ve been a fixture in there."
Providence enters Thursday night with a 1-0 record. The Friars defeated Vermont on Monday, 80-58, in their season opener.
In that game, Indiana transfer Emmit Holt led the way, scoring 22 points in his Providence debut. Junior forward Rodney Bullock added 18 points while sophomore guard Ryan Fazekas scored 11.
"We know they’re a physical team and I know they kind of play off their bigger guys," Ohio State junior forward Keita Bates-Diop said. "They’re pretty good defensively. We’ll get more into it today, obviously.”
Buckeye Breakdown
It was sloppy from start to finish Monday night for Ohio State as it struggled on both ends of the floor and, as a result, to pull away from a mid-major team which finished 13-19 last season.
There were positives in the play of Jae'Sean Tate, Micah Potter and C.J. Jackson, but not much else for the Buckeyes. Tate had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, Potter hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 points and Jackson dished out eight assists to bring his total to 17 after just two games.
But Ohio State allowed the Eagles to shoot nearly 50 percent from the field and point guard Patrick Cole scored a game-high 26 points.
“We were up 12 in the game and a couple of times we could have pushed it, taken it over, but we messed up and they got it down to six or whatever it was," Bates-Diop said. "I think it’s just trying to close out games, trying to finish games. I think if we had done that, we would have felt a lot better.”
Ohio State lost a pair of games to mid-major teams in the nonconference a year ago. Matta and players admitted after Monday's win it felt like a game the Buckeyes could have dropped had it been last season. There's more of a mindfulness this year that every game in the nonconference is crucial when it comes to the end of the year.
For Ohio State now, though, it's just about moving onto Providence.
“[Matta has] been positive. He’s always positive with us," Jackson said. "What happened Monday night is kind of in the past now so we just want to move on from it. We won and that’s the most important thing and we just want to look forward to [Thursday's] game and come in with the right team mindset and just get the job done.”
How It Plays Out
Ohio State's latest performance certainly didn't give fans much confidence heading into Thursday night. This certainly feels like a toss-up game.
The Friars have athletes that neither Navy nor N.C. Central had and that can certainly give the Buckeyes, who are struggling a bit on both ends of the floor through two games, some problems.
KenPom gives Ohio State a 76 percent chance to win despite its first two performances. The Buckeyes are ranked No. 26 in the advanced statistical ratings while the Friars are just 57th. Ohio State is projected by the computers to come away with a 75-67 win, but something tells me this one might go the other way based on what we've seen so far.
Tim's prediction: Providence 72, Ohio State 68
