It’s the same story for the Ohio State basketball team. It wins games it should and fails to make an impact on its NCAA Tournament hopes by losing a game it needs to make an impression. This time, it was a poor defensive effort that led to a 92-82 loss to Wisconsin at the Kohl Center.
We like to reflect on each OSU hoops game and take away some thoughts and observations on what we sawfrom the team, and this one was a pretty sad state of affairs, and now the Buckeyes will have to start to really stack some wins heading down the stretch.
Here are three things we learned from Ohio State’s loss to Wisconsin on Saturday.
The Ohio State defense is the real problem
Ohio State has enough offensive firepower to hang with about any team, but the defense isn’t playing at the level it needs to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years. Too often, shooters were left wide open on the perimeter, guards blew by without help defense, and the effort to rally seemed to be lacking.
At this point, you kind of are what you are, and Ohio State will have to have really good shooting nights to outscore opponents. That doesn’t bode well for shutting down the teams above the Buckeyes in the standings, the type of teams that they need to start beating to make the postseason.
Ohio State plays too much matchup isolation on offense
When you sit back and watch the opposition — in this case, Wisconsin — you see a free-flowing offense where everyone is moving, sharing the ball, and making the extra pass to get the best look possible. You compare that to the Ohio State offense, and there’s a lot of dribbling and standing around with a heavy intent on taking care of mismatches.
That’s just not consistent, winning basketball. Maybe it works in the NBA, but not in the college game. The talent on the floor for Ohio State is often as good, if not better than, the teams it is going against on a nightly basis, and yet, it’s a team that has been around .500 in the Big Ten year in and year out because the style leads to contested shots and a lack of energy.
Ohio State is now behind the eight-ball
The way things are going will not get Ohio State into the NCAA Tournament. It’s hard to see this team making inroads against the top of the league, whether it be on the road or at home. Again, because of the way things are going on the court, the wins are coming by a thin margin and the losses by a significant margin.
Unless something changes and OSU can find a way to start playing better team ball and making better decisions on the court, it’ll be sitting out the NCAA Tournament once again. Yes, there’s still plenty of season left, but we’ve seen enough from this squad and program at this point to not feel great about the prospects of March having some Scarlet and Gray madness.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: 3 things we learned from Ohio State basketball’s loss to Wisconsin
Reporting by Phil Harrison, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
