This is it.
Five wins in five days, and even after 18 losses, Ohio State would salvage its season with an NCAA Tournament berth. But even a single defeat in Chicago threatens to end Ohio State’s 2022-23 campaign full-stop. Asked on 97.1 The Fan Monday if the Buckeyes would accept an invitation to a postseason tournament aside from the Big Dance, Chris Holtmann said “that’s a conversation for another time.”
As unlikely as a Big Ten Tournament championship is, it’s Ohio State’s last hope at a meaningful end to the season. And the Buckeyes are treating it as such.
“I think there's always urgency in these settings. But there's obviously great urgency,” Holtmann said Monday during an interview session at the Schottenstein Center. “I think the focus is, as much as anything, you're trying to focus on those things that you've done well and not come off of that, and not come off of that messaging in terms of what have we done well here and what do we need to continue to grow in? That's as important as anything here is we'll head into it.”
Senior guard Isaac Likekele, whose college career could come to an end in Chicago, hadn’t put much thought into the prospect before being asked about the subject on Monday. But upon further reflection, the possibility that his last collegiate game could take place this week only adds more fuel to the fire for a deep run in the Windy City.
“I really haven’t thought about it like that just yet, honestly. And now, come to think of it, I'm just gonna be appreciative every game,” Likekele said. “Because you never know when it’s gonna end. And I just always think about my very first game ever even playing college basketball. Just how long ago it was, but how long ago it doesn't feel like it was. So I'm just gonna go out there and just have fun and play every game trying to win for the team. And you know, we'll see what happens.”
Given how the Buckeyes have played as of late, they have reasonable cause for a small glimmer of hope. Ohio State snapped a nine-game losing streak with consecutive wins over the sixth- and seventh-seed teams (Maryland and Illinois) in the tournament just last week, and the Buckeyes came within six points of fourth-seeded Michigan State in East Lansing on Sunday.
The #B1GMBBT bracket pic.twitter.com/Gm01WYcOle
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 6, 2023
For a group that primarily started four true freshmen down the stretch of the regular season, those final three games were crucial for confidence entering the postseason.
“I think it was very important for the team, really mainly the young guys. The young guys need to see – sometimes it's hard for us to tell them things without them seeing,” Likekele said. “So I believe that they needed to see a couple of wins in the win column. We never felt like we couldn't win any games. A lot of the games came down to one or two possessions that we just had to do something different. So this whole time we haven't been feeling like we can't win.
"We just been feeling like we just gotta figure out how to change those one or two things. And if we can do that, then a lot of the losses that we had would have turned into Ws. So just keep on focusing on those one or two, three possessions that we need to keep doing. We'll see what happens at the Big Ten Tournament.”
Likekele said the Buckeyes made the necessary adjustments the coaching staff harped on for much of the season, and recent results have only proven that point. But in order for those improvements to mean anything, Ohio State will have to maintain that level of play in a single-elimination tournament setting.
“I feel as if we just kept trusting the process and listening to Coach (Holtmann). He kept telling us that we weren't playing the correct way and the correct manner. So he just kept drilling us and practicing us until we did,” Likekele said. “And slowly but surely, like after what we said after the Purdue game; it wasn't the outcome that we wanted, but there was little improvements that we've seen personally as a team that we've been looking for. And then so on and so on, week after week, we just feel like we've been playing better and better. And hopefully all that can accumulate to a lot of wins coming into this tournament. So we're just gonna keep trying to play right way and focus on the process.”
Since starting center Zed Key saw his season shut down due to a shoulder injury, which coincided with more playing time for Ohio State’s youth, the Buckeyes appear to have flipped the page on their worst stretch of the year. The smaller, more versatile lineups Holtmann has employed as of late have resulted in success, and the Buckeye coach thinks that could carry over into the Big Ten Tournament.
Holtmann said Wisconsin’s size could pose a challenge to Ohio State’s more positionless roster makeup at present, but the trade-off in endurance and athleticism could pay dividends for the Buckeyes – especially if they get past the first round.
“I just think right now it gives us the best chance to win, is playing with a little bit more mobility and speed,” Holtmann said. “Now that'll be tested against Wisconsin because their interior guys, they play kind of two post guys, even though (Tyler) Wahl’s a forward that can guard really one through five, his ability to really hurt you in the post. And then obviously their center does a terrific job scoring. So that'll get tested in this particular game, for sure. But I do think it just makes us a little more active. We saw it against Michigan State, just having Gene (Brown)’s versatility. And we’re just more athletic. We move better with that group.”
Ohio State managed to win four games in the Big Ten Tournament just two seasons ago, although the Buckeyes were far more successful in the regular season. Instrumental in Ohio State’s run to the championship game was the hot hand of Duane Washington, who put up 23 points per game on 44.4% shooting from 3-point range in that five-game stretch.
Perhaps Brice Sensabaugh, who Holtmann compared to Washington before the season, could provide a similar spark in this year’s tournament. Sensabaugh averaged 17.4 points per game in his final five before the postseason, with three 20-point performances. Bruce Thornton isn’t far behind, with an average of 17.3 points in the past four games.
Holtmann won’t put the expectation on any one player to shoulder that load, but if Ohio State is to upset the apple cart in Chicago, it’s going to take Herculean individual efforts from one or more Buckeyes.
“Well, I wouldn't want to pick one particular guy (to have a breakout run in the tournament). I have to go back and look. I can't remember if Duane was really playing well leading up to that stretch or not, to be honest with you. I just think he caught fire,” Holtmann said. “We had a number of guys that were playing well in that stretch, but Duane kind of took it to another level. I think any time you have a guy that just has the ability to kind of get hot and score it like that, sometimes these tournament settings can be moments where they really kind of break out. And he did.”
Whether the Buckeyes can extend their season or it ends unceremoniously, those questions will be answered in Chicago this week, starting with Ohio State’s 6:30 p.m. matchup with 12th-seeded Wisconsin.
