Three games stand between Thad Matta, Ohio State and Big Ten conference play. The Buckeyes are 8-2 after outlasting Connecticut on Saturday evening 64-60 to bounce back from a horrible overtime loss at home to Florida Atlantic four days earlier.
Matta's group opens Big Ten conference play on New Year's Day with a trip to Illinois. Games against No. 2 UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas (Saturday at 3 p.m. ET), Youngstown State on Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. ET and UNC-Asheville in Columbus on Dec. 22 at 9 p.m. are the team's final games on the 2016 calendar.
Matta joined the 13 other Big Ten coaches for a teleconference on Monday morning and called his team's game against the Bruins "a tremendous challenge."
Additional Matta Notes:
- On Kam Williams' recent shot selection and the fact he is 3-of-19 from the floor and 1-of-11 from deep the last two games, Matta said he loves what his junior guard is doing: "He was in [Sunday] working hard on it. Hopefully, we can get him back to making shots because we need that. I know what he's capable of doing and definitely want him to do what he does well."
- Matta added he doesn't see Williams forcing anything: "He is a shooter, he's had a couple off nights here ... They've been on target but just a little bit short. We have faith in him and know he'll return to form."
- UCLA plays at a frenetic pace and averages 97.5 points per game, second-most in the country. Matta: "They do a good job of getting the ball down the floor. That's one thing that will be very, very important from the start. Getting back on defense and getting our defense set will be a huge priority for us."
- More on the expected pace to the game on Saturday: "There's a certain way to play fast. Obviously, UCLA has something that they're doing, I don't know if we want to shoot as quickly as they do ... we had a couple possessions the other night against UConn where the ball was slow moving. Those are things that we're trying to address."
- Ohio State practiced Sunday, are off Monday and back on the court Tuesday and Wednesday as finals finish up. The team will practice in Las Vegas on Thursday and Friday before playing UCLA on Saturday, Matta said.
- Saturday against UConn was a "big game" for Ohio State's season, Matta said: "I thought our guys did a good job of starting the game well. I was pleased with how we came back, picked ourselves up and went back to work."
- On UCLA guard Lonzo Ball: "He's making great decisions, he has a tremendous future ahead of him. There's no question about that." Matta said Ball reminds him "a little bit" of former guard D'Angelo Russell. Ball averages 15.0 points, 8.8 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Tom Crean, Indiana
- Crean said it is "very good" to see his players bouncing back from injuries and getting back into the flow of the game but his team doesn't have the synergy it needs yet: "Sometimes they just make a mistake because they don't have that innate feeling when you're playing with one another and it usually results in turnovers. That comes from not played enough together yet."
- After Indiana's huge win over No. 3 North Carolina, Crean said his team is building instead of resting on its laurels: "You saw that this weekend with our victories especially ... now the challenge is to stay fresh."
- The Hoosiers play No. 16 Butler on Saturday.
Fran McCaffery, Iowa
- McCaffery said his team's first month of the season has been "interesting." The Hawkeyes are 5-5 but beat No. 25 Iowa State 78-64 on Thursday: "That was probably the first time we put it all together ... it was not perfection but it was by far the best it's been."
- With a young team, McCaffery recognizes the difficulty of playing at a high level for multiple games: "That's the challenge. But now that they've seen it work, hopefully, that's where we are headed. We have a tough test this Saturday against Northern Iowa."
- On having success recruiting players out of Ohio (like Aaron White), McCaffery noted the amount of talent in the state in comparison to states like Iowa, Nebraska, etc.: "Schools like Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State can't take team all ... but kids want to play in the Big Ten."
- "A kid like Aaron White, he wanted to play in the Big Ten and we were his only Big Ten offer ... I'd argue that he worked harder in order to become a great Big Ten player than most would."
John Groce, Illinois
- Groce is excited that his team has won four straight games but knows it has a challenge this weekend against BYU: "That team is very offensively potent so we have to be on point with our defense, which is a slow process at times."
- Groce said his team is taking a few more days off and not practicing as long because of final exams coming this week: "I want them to prepare well, do a great job and then we'll worry about adapting on the basketball end to help them out."
- Illinois plays BYU at the United Center: "We love going up there, it's great for recruiting and for the alumni in the city of Chicago to see us play."
Chris Collins, Northwestern
- Northwestern has two losses this season by a combined six points. Collins: "I was anxious to see how this group would play to start the season ... [Butler] hit a shot to beat us at the buzzer and Notre Dame we had a lead and didn't finish the job ... I've been pleased with how my team's approached each game. We've kind of showed who we are."
- On having leading scorer Vic Law back from the torn labrum he suffered in November 2015: "It was tough because we felt like we could have done some things last year had Vic been healthy ... But him sitting and watching and not being able to play for 5 months helped make him hungry and motivated. He's being the guy we thought he could be. He just makes us a different team because of his versatility."
Mark Turgeon, Maryland
- Maryland's only loss of the season is to Pittsburgh in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at home. Turgeon: "We'll get better. We're young, playing three freshmen 28 minutes a game. We're just figuring out how to win games."
- Turgeon said he wasn't pleased with how his team closed out its win against St. Peter's, when it allowed 23 points over the final 7 minutes: "We're playing 10 guys right now, whether we'll keep playing 10 guys over 14 minutes is up to them ... We need to guard for a full 40 minutes."
- On star guard Melo Trimble: "He's been doing everything we've asked of him and then some."
- Turgeon said big man Damonte Dodd could miss some early parts of the Big Ten schedule with a knee injury.
Matt Painter, Purdue
- Painter: "When we don't turn the basketball over and actually defend some people, we've had some really good stretches."
- Asked about the depth in the Big Ten, Painter said the conference has good balance to it so far: "Some teams have improved and some teams like Illinois have gotten healthy, for example ... and once you see some teams that have been together for multiple years they are better too."
- "If you feel like you have a team that can get in the NCAA Tournament, I think you'd be a fool to not play some high-level teams in the non-conference ... it'll help your development and will appeal to the committee."
- The Boilermakers face in-state rival No. 23 Notre Dame on Saturday. Painter: "The fact they're first in the nation in four or five offensive categories is pretty impressive ... They're a tough team to plan for and play against because they shoot it so well."
- Painter said he anticipates Michigan graduate transfer guard Spike Albrecht will return at some point this season from an injury suffered against Georgia State in the third game of the season.
Patrick Chambers, Penn State
- Chambers: "We're 6-5, that's not where we want to be but we've been challenged in the non-conference schedule. We all just need to get on the same page and keep growing and maturing."
- Chambers said "there is a lot of work to be done" between now and his team's next game, which comes on Sunday against St. John's at Madison Square Garden.
Tom Izzo, Michigan State
- Izzo called Columbus native and true freshman Nick Ward "a pleasant surprise" so far this season. Ward has seen an increase in his minutes due to injuries and transfers out of Michigan State. He is averaging 11.9 points per game, third on the team.
- Izzo said his freshmen have had to really grow up quickly because "as soon as they got here, our two 6-foot-9 guys got hurt."
- Izzo said star Miles Bridges remains "day-to-day, week-to-week" with his foot injury: "Really the timetable has not been established."
Steve Pikiell, Rutgers
- Rutgers won nine of its first 10 games this season, the program's best start since 1975: "It's been a process, me learning my roster and them learning me but we're making good progress. I'm really pleased to almost have five guys in double figures."
- Pikiell said when his team started this season its ability to box out and rebound "was just not good at all."
- Pikiell and the Scarlet Knights play Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday, who Ohio State defeated earlier this year: "I really like Ohio State's talent after watching it on tape."
Greg Gard, Wisconsin
- The Badgers are ranked 17th in the country and winners of their last five games. Gard: "We've played a terrific schedule and had a nice win at Marquette over the weekend ... I really like my team and like where we are but the hunger is still there."
- On Toledo native Nigel Hayes, Gard said they anticipated this potential from him coming out of high school though it wasn't exactly a sure thing: "He's obviously been a very good player for us. He's understood for the most part what makes him good and worked hard on things that he really struggled with earlier in his career and there were some big areas.
John Beilein, Michigan
- Michigan lost by 18 points at UCLA on Sunday. Beilein: "Obviously a tough loss but we made it back through the snow last night. Now the challenge is getting out bodies back on East Coast time."
Richard Pitino, Minnesota
- The Golden Gophers are 10-1 after beating Northern Illinois on Sunday night. Pitino: "I like where we're at. Still so much to do but we are doing some good things."
- Pitino understands the natural thought to compare his team from a year ago which went 8-23 to this year's group but notes it is a much different roster: "With that being said, the vibe is great because we are 10-1 ... Guys are excited where we're at but our biggest task is to make them understand that we are by no means where we want to go."
Tim Miles, Nebraska
- Miles: "We've had a daunting schedule and that really doesn't change after Christmas." The Cornhuskers have played UCLA, Creighton, Kansas, Clemson and Virginia Tech already this season and open conference play at Indiana and at Maryland.
- Nebraska only has 11 active scholarship players due to injuries and transfers. Miles: "We've gotta get everybody up to speed quickly because there are some players that frankly have not developed as well as we thought they would."
- Asked about his personal Twitter account, which Miles uses sometimes at halftime of games: "When I first heard about Twitter, I thought you could only send a tweet once a day and it had to be 140 characters."
- More on Twitter: "It's just something that we started, and I put it in the realm of some of the halftime interviews with some of the networks. But I don't go to my computer in my office eight blocks away and post something on the Internet. Just so we're clear."
