Ohio State suffered arguably its most inexplicable loss of the season on Saturday night. Despite leading by five with 30 seconds remaining, the Buckeyes fell to Nebraska at home 58-57 after Glynn Watson Jr.'s bucket and free throw with 11 seconds gave the Cornhuskers their first lead since the early portions of the game.
The loss left Ohio State head coach Thad Matta "dumbfounded," a similar adjective that could be described for a fanbase that has seen his program regress even further this season. The Buckeyes stand at 15-13 overall and just 5-10 in Big Ten play.
With that as a prequel, Matta sat down with Ron Stokes and Paul Keels on 97.1 The Fan on Monday evening for his weekly radio show. Ohio State hosts No. 16 Wisconsin on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m.
Notes:
- Matta said he was "anxious" to watch the Nebraska tape because he couldn't come to grips with what had just happened: "I've not been in many games like that before."
- Matta said he told his team it was going to beat the Cornhuskers but "that one got me a little bit. You lead for 39 minutes or whatever ... a little bit tough to stomach."
- When Kam Williams got tied up and Nebraska got the jump ball, Matta said "there was a lot of grabbing there" but a foul wasn't called.
- There are plenty of different scenarios that could play out in a situation out of a timeout with under 10 seconds to go. Against Nebraska, the Buckeyes wanted to find Williams on the other side of the court after a handoff: "When it got blown up there, Jae'Sean [Tate] had already used his dribble and we obviously didn't get the shot that we wanted."
- Tim Hortons Coffee With the Coach Question from Dominic in Centerville: How does Ohio State look at the big picture moving forward with some of the positives that have happened this season? Matta: "We're getting some young guys playing time ... you must learn through adversity. I think one of the biggest positives of the season is Keita Bates-Diop's surgery went well."
- Matta said he grabs Bates-Diop after every game and asks what he sees from the team in a brief examination session. The forward usually echoes what the staff keeps saying.
- "I keep telling myself, everyone has injuries." — Matta on Bates-Diop. He then likened it to David Lighty's' ankle injury in 2009 with how it impacts what the Buckeyes do both offensively and defensively.
- "We just need more of a steady calm to us. You've got to be thinking through situations about what just happened, what could happen and what might happen ... Sometimes with this team, I think we hold onto things too long."
- Matta brought up when Ohio State led by 11 against Nebraska, missed a layup then gave up back-to-back 3-pointers to the Cornhuskers: "We've got to have a point where we put a stop to situations like that."
- Matta said his team had poor spacing, did not use pass fakes and failed to get the looks he wanted it to against the zone on Saturday.
- On a recent rough stretch for Kam Williams, who shot 1-for-7 on Saturday and is 7-of-28 from the field in his last three games, Matta brought up how he gave a lucky clover to Je'Kel Foster early in his tenure: "He hit a three in the Big Ten Tournament and my arm is still sore from fist-pumping so hard."
- Matta said Williams "is still in the gym shooting" after practice as he did his radio show.
- Matta said "for whatever reason" Ohio State is struggling to move on from both positive and negative plays throughout the course of the game: "Our message has always been play forward. We stress that each and every day with our guys."
- Elk & Elk Injury Report: Bates-Diop is starting to rehab slowly and is able to walk without a boot despite the rod in his leg. Matta said the forward is on the heaviest weightlifting program available: "I've instructed them to get him as big and as strong as possible before he can return."
- Asked about practice on Monday and how the players responded moving forward, Matta said the team viewed the film again before it did "a lot of conditioning."
- On a player wanting the ball in the final few seconds, Matta brought up the story of the time Scottie Pippen throwing a chair in frustration while playing for the Chicago Bulls and Phil Jackson drew up a play for Toni Kukoc: "I've always said the ball will find you ... you gotta be in the moment and think about what the right thing is to do and when to do it."
- Evan Turner attended Ohio State's practice on Monday, one of many former players Matta said is "very, very tuned into" what the program is doing. Turner spoke to the team following the conclusion of drills.
- Matta noted that Trevor Thompson avoided foul trouble well against Nebraska: "That was good to see."
- On C.J. Jackson: "I swear, at some point, he's going to nail those threes at a higher clip."
- Is Ohio State fatigued? "The old saying, fatigue makes cowards of us all ... Like I always say, you've got to get yourself ready to compete for 40 minutes. Maybe 45. Maybe 50. We're all a little bit tired right now but that's when the cream sort of rises to the crop."
- Matta said he told Micah Potter after practice he is not having an "FF Year," which stands for February Freshman. Thus, a first-year player hitting a wall due to fatigue.
- More on Potter: "I think he can be a good stretch 4 or stretch 5 for us down the road."
- On Wisconsin: "They're going to be as solid and sound as they can be ... very deliberate style. They just sort of who they are."
- On Badger post player Ethan Happ, Matta gave the redshirt sophomore credit for his patience in the post: He plays very hard and very, very smart in terms of positioning defensively. He plays hard without fouling."
- Matta gave a similar sentiment to senior Nigel Hayes: "One thing he's really improved on is shooting the ball. Both of those guys are also great offensive rebounders."
- Matta said he never got an explanation from the Big Ten after the Buckeyes lost a point following a review of a 3-point shot made by Williams in a 70-64 victory over Rutgers: "I've still never seen anything like that before."
- Matta said Bates-Diop can guard all five positions on the floor: "Look at our stats, we don't have as many blocked shots without him in there ... he was a master at tipping passes and shots."
- Matta said Potter lost "about 40 pounds" in high school and has a very set, regimented eating schedule: "We want to get him a little more solid and he is one of those guys that always focuses on that."
- Matta said he's been able to call and text with some of this former players the last few days due to the NBA All-Star break.
- Ohio State does not play this weekend. Matta isn't sure what practice schedule will be like — "it depends on what happens Thursday" — but it will be a huge opportunity for the team to go recruit.
- JaQuan Lyle's ankle is still swollen but he has to play through it: "The biggest thing is getting him all the way in game-playing shape."
