Ohio State has moved on.
Well, sort of.
The Buckeyes are in the middle of preparing for Saturday’s game against Connecticut, a 6 p.m. showdown at Value City Arena, but they also haven’t forgot about that stunning loss Tuesday night to Florida Atlantic.
“Losing is never OK,” senior forward Marc Loving said Friday. “But there’s nothing us or anyone can do about it right now. I can’t just dwell on the past or my negative energy is going to feed off to anyone else so we have to move forward at some point and it would be terrible to lose this game as well so there has to be some sense of urgency of wanting to turn it around.”
Ohio State coach Thad Matta said there really isn’t a specific formula he can follow with his team following a loss like Tuesday’s, one where the Buckeyes blew an 11-point second-half lead as they fell in overtime to the Falcons.
“You want guys to refocus in terms of how we have to play better, but UConn is a completely different opponent than what we just went against,” Matta said. “My biggest thing is you don’t want a game like that to define who you are. You have to be able to change the outcome from all the little things that we probably didn’t do as well as we needed to.”
On Thursday, Ohio State had practice scheduled in the morning and then a film session scheduled later that evening. Matta said he didn’t get what he needed out of his team during the early practice, so the Buckeyes practiced again in the evening before their film session.
In between those sessions, however, Loving said Ohio State’s players met to have a discussion — without the coaches.
“It’s not like a tragic event has happened. Our season is not over. It’s the 10th game of the season,” Loving said. “But yes, we have come together as a team and met to clear some air to make sure everyone is on the same page and to try and get everyone on the same page.”
“We didn’t have the best practice earlier in the day yesterday so we met as a group, got together and then took a couple hours off and came back and got practice going again later in the night,” he continued. “Practice was a lot better and there was a lot more energy and chatter throughout the gym.”
Loving mentioned Ohio State can't allow Tuesday's loss to have a snowball effect. The Buckeyes play UConn on Saturday and UCLA after that, so while these games are big challenges, they're also vitally important.
If Ohio State finds a way to turn things around, perhaps all won't be lost.
“Hopefully, our conversations will be able to pay off with a victory,” Loving said.
