Four wins in 12 days. Only one loss in the last five games. All of a sudden, Ohio State hardly looks like the second-worst team in the Big Ten.
In fact, the Buckeyes are now only one win removed from a spot in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals after knocking off 12th-seed Wisconsin and fifth-seeded Iowa in consecutive days in Chicago. Sure, some thought Ohio State would get the job done against the Badgers, and the Buckeyes had already beaten the Hawkeyes once during the regular season. But just a few weeks ago, nobody expected Ohio State to still be around on the third day of the conference tournament.
On one hand, Ohio State’s recent turnaround makes its regular-season struggles all the more baffling. Why couldn’t the Buckeyes have figured things out early enough to still be in the hunt for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament? After all, a Big Ten Tournament championship is Ohio State’s only way into the Big Dance, and Chris Holtmann hasn’t won a conference title in his best seasons in Columbus – let alone his worst.
But Chris Holtmann said the metamorphosis his team has undergone over the past couple weeks was only made possible by the struggles it endured through most of a two-month stretch at the start of the new year.
“The reality is there were too many times throughout this year – listen, there is a way you need to play when you're struggling and maybe you're down, and I think our team had to learn to play the right way when we go through adversity in games,” Holtmann said. “And that's been a hard lesson for us, and it's taken us a minute to understand that. There's a way you've got to play to give yourself a chance. Tonight was a great example.”
Ohio State trailed Iowa late on Thursday, and just a few weeks ago, the Buckeyes didn’t seem capable of a come-from-behind win over a rock-solid opponent in the final few minutes. But the Buckeyes battled back and pulled out the victory, their second in as many days at the United Center.
On Wednesday, Ohio State led Wisconsin by 27 points in the second half before crumbling late to allow the Badgers within three points before the final buzzer. But once again, the Buckeyes showed mental toughness and resolve to notch a win in the face of adversity.
Holtmann said the turning point of the season came in the first half of Ohio State’s 27-point loss to Purdue in West Lafayette on Feb. 19. The final score was not flattering for the Buckeyes, but Holtmann felt like their first-half effort showed that the team was starting to understand the manner in which he wanted them to play.
“We've been saying that over and over, and I think it's been validated in how our guys have performed really starting with the first half at Purdue. You play the right way, you give yourselves a chance,” Holtmann said. “We've done that. And on top of that, I think, when you see some success, obviously confidence comes with that.”
During Ohio State’s nine-game skid and stretch of 14 losses in 15 games, Holtmann said he didn’t know if his team was getting the message. But after seeing their repeated mistakes first-hand throughout the season, Holtmann said changes were made, and they’ve clearly paid off.
“It was really hard. I think I questioned whether I was messaging the right things at times this year because I didn't feel like always I was – you know, they were hearing me. It almost felt like we needed to go through really serious struggles for them to understand there's a way in which we have to play in terms of trusting each other,” Holtmann said. “And playing with the necessary focus on the next possession, that's really hard for any new team, but a young team and a new team to understand. Our understanding of that has just really, really improved. Then I think, even when we were losing, we were preaching that, and we said, hey, we will see the results eventually. Fortunately, it's been validated.”
However, exactly how much Ohio State has turned things around may be measured by how far it ends up going in this week’s conference tournament. Two wins are impressive, but hardly unfathomable.
But a third win, particularly a victory over Tom Izzo and Michigan State, might truly start to change the perception about the Buckeyes and make their dreams of a conference title look a bit more realistic.
“They obviously got us really good at our place. We played really well at their place on Senior Night. They're a terrific team,” Holtmann said. “It's as good a Michigan State team as the Final Four team. They shoot it as well as that team. They're different in their makeup, but I think it's as good a Michigan State team as maybe we've played. I think they're terrific. So it will be a great challenge.”
