Tag: ohio state basketball

Ohio State basketball slides further down Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology

The Ohio State basketball team keeps dropping seed lines in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology. Now they are officially in bubble territory.

Another week means another check-in with ESPN and Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology. Lunardi is known as one of the foremost experts and projecting the NCAA Tournament field as results occur. He has historically been very accurate in predicting the teams that get into the field when all the regular-season games are complete.

What he says should be paid attention to, so that’s what we’re doing.

The Buckeyes have been as high as a No. 2 seed in his projections, but we all know how things have gone since then. They continue to fall down the seed projections with each passing loss and each agonizing week recently.

So where is Ohio State after a week in which we saw it lose to Minnesota at home, but win against Northwestern on the road? The news is not so good because the scarlet and gray have moved all the way down to a No 8 seed — in what you would consider bubble territory.

Lunardi has OSU playing No. 9 seed Arkansas in the Midwest Region out in Omaha.

Now, the good news is that there’s plenty of quad 1 wins out there to bolster a resume that already has some good wins on it. The bad news is that Ohio State has to play these quality teams in the Big Ten and cannot afford to lose at the clip it has if it wants to still be a part of all the madness in March.

 

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D’Angelo Russell mourns loss of NBA legend and former teammate Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant, in a stunning helicopter crash, passed away on Sunday. Former Buckeye D’Angelo Russell gave a touching tribute to the legend.

NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, in a stunning helicopter crash, passed away on Sunday. It shook the NBA, as players were hardly able to keep their composure while playing in games later that day.

While initial reports were without the full context of the incident, Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, were among the nine killed in the crash that took place in Calabasas, California.

Many current stars took to social media to pay their respects. Some went even a notch further, giving extremely heart-wrenching messages for Bryant, showcasing just how far Kobe’s reach around the league was.

Former Buckeye D’Angelo Russell gave a touching tribute to the legend on Instagram. “I find myself hearing every bit of advice you ever gave me,” Russell posted.

This was a difficult situation for everyone involved, and it shook some of the league’s most influential players, including Russell who once shared a locker room with Bryant.

Former Ohio State All-American Jim Jackson pays tribute to Kobe Bryant

Former Ohio State great Jim Jackson paid tribute to Kobe Bryant. Hear his comments about his former teammate during a broadcast on BTN.

The entire world is grieving the loss of one of the best basketball players to ever live. Kobe Bryant and his 13-year old daughter were a part of a tragic helicopter crash that took the lives of them and seven other individuals. All gone too soon.

We’ve heard from former and current NBA players and greats, other stars in other sports across the world, and media personalities galore. Each paying tribute and remembering the life of Bryant. There’s even a whole host of Buckeye personalities that shared their thoughts.

One of those greats is Ohio State All-American Jim Jackson. He played and competed not only against Kobe during his career in the NBA, but also played alongside him for a short time as his final stop in a long, fourteen-year career during the 2005-2006 season.

Jackson took some time to share his thoughts on Bryant both on and off the court when speaking during a game he was announcing on BTN. You can listen to his comments in the below Tweet shared to the official Twitter feed of the Big Ten Network.

Rest in Peace Kobe. The whole world will miss seeing you flash that smile.

WATCH: Ohio State guard D.J. Carton throws down ridiculous alley-oop

Ohio State guard D.J. Carton knows how to get off the ground. Watch a ridiculous alley-oop he got to go against Northwestern Sunday.

If you’ve watched Ohio State basketball this year, you’ve no doubt seen flashes of the high-flying athleticism of freshman guard D.J. Carton. He’s only 6-2, 185 lbs., but he can fly above the rim like a guy 6-7 or taller. He was blessed with fast-twitch ability some of us can only dream about.

That skill set was on full display in the second half against on the road against Northwestern Sunday night. With the game still in doubt, the Buckeyes grabbed a rebound, threw an outlet pass to Duane Washington and raced down the floor. Washington lobbed a pass up to Carton but appeared to sail it too high.

That’s when Carton reached back, cradled the basketball, and with his body and head behind the rim, found a way to get the basket to go down. In case you missed it, you too can appreciate the beauty of it all by clicking on the below highlight from the Twitter feed of Ohio State on BTN.

[lawrence-related id=22135]

Mighty impressive. Man if this kid ever completely figures things out, he’s going to be a handful for opposing teams.

 

Ohio State with much needed win over Northwestern. Three things we learned.

Ohio State battled through a back and forth game against Northwestern for its first Big Ten road win of the year.

Ohio State finally got a road win in the Big Ten, and it’s a big one. Heck, at this point, any win is big when you’re mired in a slump of losing six of seven.

The Buckeyes got a slow start to the game but began to turn up the pressure in the first half and went into the break with a three-point lead. Unlike last time out at home against Minnesota though, Ohio State was able to play a full forty minutes and finish this one with a solid 71-59 win.

Who knows? Maybe this will act as a catalyst towards a turnaround on the season.

We always like to take stock in these sorts of things, and so as normal, here’s three things we learned after the victory.

Next … Andre Wesson kept Ohio State in the game early

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Ohio State starts slow, finishes half with 3-point lead at Northwestern

Ohio State shook off a slow start to go on a run and took a 3-point lead into halftime against Northwestern.

The first half in Evanston looked a lot like some of the other games we’ve seen recently from Ohio State early on. But then, the Buckeyes came out of a timeout with more energy on defense and an attacking style on offense to take a little control in the game. After going up by as many as ten midway through the first half, Ohio State went into the locker room up 38-35.

There was a lid on the basket early on, as Ohio State fell down early 9-2. The offense struggled finding a way to score against a Northwestern defense that sagged all five guys close to the lane to limit the effectiveness of Kaleb Wesson.

But then, the defense clamped down and led to some runouts, some outside shots hit the bottom of the net, and the offense began to find a little more rhythm. Not everything is rosy though. Northwestern finished the half on a run that gave it some momentum headed to the break.

Forward Andre Wesson led Ohio State with eleven points. He also nabbed four rebounds and went 1 of 3 from beyond the arc. He’s brother Kaleb has been held to just four points. The Buckeyes also got contributions from their bench with Justin Ahrens pouring in six points, and both Duane Washington and D.J. Carton adding five each.

It’s a better showing on the road by Ohio State, but this one is far from over. Things went south last week against Minnesota in the second half, so there needs to be more of what we saw in the first twenty as the teams head out for the last twenty minutes.

 

Ohio State vs. Northwestern 2019 basketball preview and prediction

Ohio State is once again looking to turn its season back around when it travels to Northwestern. We’ve got a preview and prediction.

Here we go again. It’s well-chronicled the issues the Ohio State basketball team has had as of late. It’s a downward spiral that it just can’s seem to suck itself out of. So much so that the Buckeyes are in the basement of the Big Ten standings and are getting dangerously close to being on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Now they must travel to Evanston to take on a Northwestern and attempt to wrestle away their first Big Ten road win of the season.  At least OSU still has a shot at the postseason. Northwestern’s season is in much worse shape. Barring a miraculous run through the Big Ten Tournament, the Wildcats will be sitting home after the regular season.

This one is bigger for Ohio State. It desperately needs this win.

Records

Ohio State 12-7 (2-6),  Northwestern 6-12 (1-7)

All-time series record

96-23 Ohio State leads

Last meeting

Northwestern won 68-50 on March 6 last season

Broadcast, TV, Game Time

Date: Thursday, January 23
Game Time: 6:30 PM
Venue: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, IL
Network: BTN

Next … The Ohio State Game Plan

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Ohio State in bubble territory in latest NCAA Tournament projections

After another loss, Ohio State has slid down most NCAA Tournament projections. It is near bubble territory in the latest ESPN Bracketology.

It’s hard to believe, but the Ohio State basketball team is getting dangerously close to not making the NCAA Tournament. With each passing loss, the Buckeyes slide further and further down the tournament seed line when it comes to projections.

The good news is that somehow OSU is still in the field in almost all projections after losing six of its last nine games. The bad news is that it has slid all the way down to a No. 7 seed in the latest Joe Lunardi Bracketology piece that gets updated as results happen.

It has been as surprising to see this team fall all over itself the last few weeks as it has been watching it rise to the pinnacle of the college basketball world nine to twelve games into the season. And if it doesn’t find some way to right the ship from here on out, we might be talking about an NIT appearance as opposed to a dance in March.

This will all change, but right now Lunardi has Ohio State in the Midwest region playing St. Mary’s in Cleveland. Kansas, Dayton, Michigan State, and Villanova are the top four seeds projected in that region.

 

 

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann Minnesota postgame press conference

The Ohio State basketball team lost another one, this time at home against Minnesota. Watch what Chris Holtmann said after the game.

Ohio State dropped another one in the Big Ten, this time to Minnesota at home. The team played perhaps a little better, but in a league that has given up road victories like Armageddon rationing, losing — even a close one — can’t be seen as a positive.

As he does after every game, Chris Holtmann met with the media to discuss the game. He took more time with reporters after this one than what he did after the last loss at Penn State, but he still seemed to be searching for answers.

In case you didn’t catch all of his comments, you can catch them here thanks to the YouTube Channel of the Columbus Dispatch. Click on the below, and listen to Holtmann discuss Kaleb Wesson’s effort, his team’s mistakes, where he thiks this team is going, and more.

Ohio State gives up halftime lead, loses again to Minnesota

Rather than getting a much-needed win, the Ohio State basketball team continued its poor play, losing to Minnesota by three at home.

It’s official. This Ohio State team is in the valley, and it’s hard to see a way out of it. After looking like one of the best teams in the country, it has shown a lack of toughness, turned the ball over far too often, and have had a real problem with shot selection. It was much of the same in a 62-59 loss to the Golden Gophers.

Before, it was more of a problem on the road, but now it appears Ohio State can’t even hold serve in front of the home crowd. In a year in which road wins are hard to come by in the conference, the Buckeyes have lost two out of four Big Ten home games to date.

Once again, the Buckeyes failed to show the toughness needed to win in the Big Ten. It allowed Minnesota to get back in the game after leading by nine at halftime by not coming out of the locker room motivated and focused. It didn’t take long for the Gophers to reel the game back in, and from there it was anybody’s ballgame.

But it wouldn’t be Ohio State’s ballgame.

Ohio State big man Kaleb Wesson was neutralized — only scoring two points for the entire game. OSU’s guard play was able to compensate in the first half, but that’s not how this team is built. There just wasn’t a great scoring option in the last twenty to find a way to win.

Still, the Buckeyes had a shot to win with under a minute to play. Kaleb Wesson got a good look from beyond the arc but missed, and then Marcus Carr made OSU pay at the other end by nailing a three of his own with just three seconds to play to seal the deal.

At the end of the day, it’s another loss and a turn towards the real possibility of not making the NCAA Tournament. That’s hard to believe with how hot this team started, but it’s the reality of where this team is.

Where do things go from here? I’d say they can’t get any worse, but we keep seeing that they can.