Ohio State Might Finally Be Learning Why As Opposed To Why Not

At the second-to-last media timeout Wednesday, Thad Matta looked up at the scoreboard and delivered a message to his team, one he hoped would help propel Ohio State to a win over Nebraska.

“I think it was 53-52 at the eight-minute timeout the other night and I was like, ‘Hey fellas, this was last Sunday. We’re in the exact same position we were in,’” the Buckeyes’ head coach recalled. “Things like that you can draw from and it helps, learning through winning and learning through losing.”

And thanks to a layup by Marc Loving with 0.6 seconds remaining, Ohio State was able to pull out a road win against the Huskers. Message received.

Matta’s reference in the game against Nebraska stemmed from the situation the Buckeyes were in their previous time out on the floor — last Sunday against Michigan State. Ohio State found a way to win that game and Matta hoped for — and got — a similar result in Lincoln.

It’s not something that happened earlier this season.

The Buckeyes lost close conference games against Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota and failed to close out marquee non-conference matchups at Virginia and against UCLA. Ohio State had trouble finishing all season. Perhaps it doesn’t have such issues anymore.

“You just have to hope we carry that over to the next opportunity,” Loving said. “If that opportunity does come up, hopefully, guys are prepared.”

That next situation could come Sunday when the Buckeyes take the floor again as they host a Northwestern team which has won three-straight games. It’s the first of four games for Ohio State that can essentially be viewed as toss-ups. For a team that’s now just 2–4 in the Big Ten, it’s almost a must-win.

Prior to the Buckeyes’ win over Michigan State, Matta said he wanted to start being able to show his team why it was winning close games as opposed to why not. After a couple of wins, he’s now able to do that.

Still, Ohio State knows there’s plenty of work to be done.

“I want to see how we continue to grow because we’re not a team that can feel good,” Matta said. “... These guys, we just have to keep grinding. Sunday’s game is just another great challenge. Hopefully, that helps us in the end of another game that we’ve been through it now, that we’ve had success.”