Expectations for the Ohio State men's basketball team weren't exactly sky high to start the season. Seven-and-a-half games in, however, things weren't looking so bad.
Then, reality set in.
Chris Holtmann's team blew a double-digit second half lead for the second time in as many games Wednesday, as the Buckeyes fell to Clemson, 79-65, at Value City Arena.
The game, which saw a season-high 17,189 show up to watch Ohio State play, was built up to be a coming-out party of sorts for Holtmann's squad. The Buckeyes handed out more than 6,000 free student tickets, and had multiple giveaways for those in attendance. For the first 20 minutes, everything was going as planned.
Ohio State jumped out to a 13-point lead against the Tigers less than 10 minutes into the game. Shots were falling, the Buckeye defense was forcing turnovers and the crowd, which had been sparse to open the year, was rocking.
For a brief moment, it looked as though the Buckeyes were turning a corner. Then, reality set in.
Ohio State's 13-point lead dwindled to seven at halftime. Before you could blink, the Tigers had taken the lead and by the time the clock hit zero, Clemson had walked away from Value City Arena with a 14-point victory that saw the Buckeyes end the game on the wrong side of a 42-18 run.
Why did all of that happen? The issues that everyone knew Ohio State would face entering the season finally surfaced.
Ohio State just doesn't have the bullets in the metaphorical gun at this point. The Buckeyes are starting a 17-year-old at two-guard, another freshman in the post and were without perhaps their best post player in Micah Potter, who missed the game due to a lingering ankle injury. In addition, Ohio State is playing with one true point guard in C.J. Jackson, who has shown flashes of brilliance but has also battled turnover issues to begin the year.
While the majority of the 17,189 in attendance moaned and groaned as Ohio State's lead quickly slipped away, there might not have been a more frustrated person than Holtmann. The Buckeye coach has seen his team now drop back-to-back games in which they led by 10 or more points in the second half, the first of which came against the team he left to come to Columbus.
Holtmann, who preached in the preseason that this season would be about gradual growth, said that message can be hard even for him at times to swallow, especially after a loss like Ohio State suffered to Clemson on Wednesday night.
"It's hard. It's hard for sure. I am not very good at that. I am not very good at being patient," Holtmann said. "I am certainly not good at handling this kind of stuff. I think our players probably need to see me handle that better."
The Buckeyes, much like the Holtmann era at Ohio State, are young. The veterans they do have have tasted just one NCAA Tournament appearance in their careers. Handling adversity is something Ohio State's players either haven't done well or haven't done at all in their collegiate careers. In that area, Holtmann said his team regressed with the loss to Clemson.
Jae'Sean Tate is just one of three Buckeyes to play in the NCAA Tournament. He scored just seven points in a loss to Clemson.
"I think we took a step back in that today. I didn't think we handled adversity really well," he said. "We weren't as connected as we needed to be and we let frustration get the best of us.
"We've got some guys that I think genuinely want to win and can get wrapped up in the emotion of it. We have to find a way to not have that thinking. I really think it is baby steps for us when it comes to that right now."
For those who are ready to condemn this Buckeye team already (and by the looks of Ohio State "fans" on Twitter, they are out there), you knew this was coming. Wins over Northeastern, Texas Southern and Robert Morris shouldn't have exactly led anyone to believe that Ohio State had turned the corner faster than expected.
However, while the mood around the Schottenstein Center isn't exactly positive these days, there are plenty of things to look forward to.
For starters, freshman forward Kaleb Wesson posted a career-high 15 points against the Tigers in his first home-start as a Buckeye. Classmate Kyle Young sparked Ohio State early with five points off the bench, adding a pair of rebounds. The previously mentioned 17-year-old Musa Jallow is perhaps Ohio State's most athletically gifted player, and has shown flashes of brilliance through eight games this season.
The Buckeyes are set to welcome what currently ranks as a top-25 recruiting class to Columbus over the summer and could perhaps even return redshirt junior Keita Bates-Diop, who dropped 21 points against the Tigers on Wednesday.
Ohio State's potential and bright future might not be easy to see for those wearing scarlet and gray right now, but for those watching from the outside, it's evident.
"He is a fantastic coach. He is going to do great here," Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said after defeating Ohio State. "He has already got them playing well, playing hard defensively, sharing the ball. They have played well in a lot of games. This was a tough game for them after the PK80, which was hard. You had a couple days to get ready. He is a terrific coach, a terrific person. He is going to do great things.
"He has got them playing right, he is going to recruit good players here and Ohio State will be where they want to be shortly."
