After Ohio State was called for seven fouls in the first six minutes of Thursday’s second half against Penn State, many people inside Value City Arena expressed their displeasure with the game’s officials.
For the home crowd of Ohio State fans, many of whom booed and/or shouted insults at the officials, that’s to be expected. Fans of all teams often resort to demonstrating anger toward referees when calls are perceived to be going against their team – a fair perception to have on Thursday after some questionable calls contributed to the quick accumulation of fouls for the Buckeyes.
The coaches and players on the floor, however, are expected to keep their composure even when the officials’ decisions don’t go their way. And after Penn State came away with an 82-79 upset win, handing Ohio State its first loss of the season in Big Ten play, both one of the Buckeyes’ star players and their head coach acknowledged that they didn’t do that well enough on Thursday night.
"I think we did a terrible job (handling the foul calls), honestly," said Jae’Sean Tate, who is considered to be one of the Buckeyes’ team leaders along with Keita Bates-Diop. "It’s hard, when you’re out there and the crowd gets into it and they’re booing and stuff and you want to join in, but I think that’s when the composure has to come in, and we’ve got to do a better job on that."
Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann implied that he wasn’t happy with the officiating in Thursday’s game – though he stopped short of saying anything that would get him in trouble – but he, too, said he felt like the Buckeyes needed to handle their displeasure with better composure going forward, describing what happened Thursday as "a good lesson" for his team.
"I looked at some of those calls, and … I won’t say much about that," Holtmann said after the game, pausing mid-sentence before completing his answer. "Penn State beat us, they were the better team tonight, but I think we got a play with a little more respond in those moments, with a little more poise. I was obviously upset, in the second half, but I was trying to be calm myself, because I felt like our guys were a little too emotional."
Going forward, Holtmann would prefer to see his players keep their heads down and their focus on the next play instead of gesturing and vocally reacting when a call doesn’t go their way. The players’ reactions did show, though, that they were emotionally invested in winning Thursday’s game, and Holtmann wasn’t upset about that.
"They care, they care at a really high level," Holtmann said. "That’s one of the best things about this group."
“I looked at some of those calls, and … I won’t say much about that.” – Chris Holtmann on fouls called against Ohio State in Thursday's second half
While Thursday’s game was ultimately decided on a buzzer-beater three by Penn State’s Tony Carr as the clock hit zeroes, it is fair to make a case that the early second-half burst of foul calls made a real difference in the game’s ultimate outcome. Those fouls put Penn State in the bonus for the final 14-plus minutes of Thursday’s game, which didn’t hurt the Buckeyes too much, as they were only called for two more fouls the rest of the way. What definitely did hurt the Buckeyes, however, is that foul trouble sent Bates-Diop and Tate to the bench for an extended period of the second half, which enabled Penn State to go on a run that led to a 13-point lead – forcing the Buckeyes to make a late comeback, and leaving them susceptible to the buzzer-beating loss – while Ohio State’s best players were off the floor.
"In Big Ten play, we need one of those guys on the floor most times," Holtmann said in reference to Bates-Diop and Tate. "When a team’s playing as well as Penn State was … we need to make sure one of those guys is on the floor most times, but it was difficult to do that with some foul trouble."
Tate, however, said he and his teammates needed to take responsibility for putting themselves in that situation – regardless of how the officials decided to call the game – to avoid being back in that situation in the future.
"In the first half, they let us play a little more and in the second half, they called it a little tight," said Tate, who picked up all four of his fouls in Thursday’s game in the second half. "So we’ve just got to, in the future, just adjust. Adjust to the play and adjust to how they’re calling the games."
Ohio State will have its chance to adjust and get back in the win column on Tuesday, when the Buckeyes host Indiana in a game scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Value City Arena.
