The Ohio State basketball team has had a fantastic start to the 2019-2020 campaign, but there are some signs of cracks in all the fun here as of late. The Buckeyes have lost two of the last four games, and have come back down to Earth just a wee-bit.
But why? Both losses were to teams that Ohio State has more talent than and should have no problem beating by simply taking care of business. The problem is that OSU hasn’t taken care of business at times, and there’s one troubling stat that seems to continue to cause issues.
It’s the turnover bug.
It was something the Buckeyes had issues with last year too, but that was thought to be because they lacked a true point guard. With two true point guards on the squad this year — and good ones at that — it was supposed to be a much improved area this year.
And at times it has been, but in spots in other games, and in contests OSU hasn’t been able to pull out, there have been a significant lack of focus on taking care of the basketball.
The issue arose again on Sunday when Ohio State lost to a rough and tumble West Virginia squad. It had 22 total turnovers, far too many to expect to win against teams that have close to, equal, or perceived more talent.
There have been other times too. The Buckeyes were extremely careless with the ball against North Carolina in the first half and led by only one point going into the locker room. Once they clamped down on making careless errors, OSU pulled away easily.
Buckeyes lead at Carolina by 2 at the half but—my heavens.. the turnovers! Feels like Ohio State’s the better team but kept UNC in it with sloppy basketball
— Matt McCoy (@MattMcCoyRadio) December 5, 2019
Ohio State has the talent and pieces to do big things this season. It can score from multiple spots, plays outstanding defense, can shoot, and has a great coaching staff.
But, if the turnovers don’t get better, we could see a season of promise derailed at the most inopportune time, like say — March.