Tag: ohio state basketball

Chris Holtmann reinstates Ohio State guards Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann confirmed the reinstatement of guards Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington for Penn State Saturday.

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann has decided to reinstate starting guards Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington Jr. The two were suspended for “a failure to meet program standards and expectations” just prior to the Nebraska game.

Since then, details of the reasoning behind the suspension remain unclear, but Holtmann left it open to a game-by-game decision going forward. It now appears as though the two have conducted themselves appropriately enough to now be back in the lineup for the game at Penn State Saturday.

When asked about the status of both in an appearance with the media today, Holtmann was very matter-of-fact.

“Yeah, they’re expected to play,” Holtmann told reporters.

When pressed on what they accomplished that allowed them to be reinstated, Holmann said he believed the one-game suspension was always going to be the case.

“You know, it was always in my mind probably going to be a one-game suspension, and I just kind of wanted to think through it a little bit more to be honest with you,” said Holtmann. “You know have a little bit of additional conversation. That was always my intent.”

The Ohio State team played well without them against Nebraska in an 80-68 score that wasn’t even as close as that would appear. However, with the Buckeyes faced with going on the road against a quality Penn State team that will be looking for revenge, they could use both guards available and at the top of their game.

The game against the Nittany Lions is set to tip-off at Noon Saturday.

LOOK: Ohio State basketball’s win over Nebraska in stunning photos

Ohio State put an end to its losing streak, controlling the game against Nebraska throughout. Here are some stunning images of the action.

The Ohio State basketball team finally got its first win of the new year, taking it to the Nebraska Cornhuskers from start to finish in an 80-68 win Tuesday night. It was a much better showing for a Buckeye team that had fallen on hard times.

The action was more decisive, intent, and purposeful for Ohio State and we’ve captured a lot of some of the memorable moments from Tuesday night in the Schott in stunning photos.

Take a scroll down through sixteen high-resolution images that capture the night Ohio State got back on the winning track. Hopefully we’ll be able to encapsulate more images of winning moments in the near future.

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WATCH: Head coach Chris Holtmann Nebraska postgame press conference

Ohio State rolled Nebraska Tuesday night to put a stop to a 4-game losing streak. Here are four things we learned.

Ohio State got the monkey off its back. Finally, after a four-game losing streak that dated back to the West Virginia game on December 29, the Buckeyes got back into the win column — its first since the turn of the new year.

OSU did it by shooting the ball much better, making better passes, and by not turning the ball over as much. Head coach Chris Holtmann was in a much better mood when he met with the media following the game Tuesday night, and thanks to the Columbus Dispatch’s YouTube channel, you can listen to his entire comments below.

Click and listen to Holtmann discuss the status of the suspension of Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington, his team’s better offensive performance, the challenge of playing against Nebraska, and more.

Ohio State’s next game is Saturday against Penn State. It’ll be a challenge. They all are in the Big Ten.

Ohio State basketball beats Nebraska. Three things we learned.

Ohio State basketball got back in the winning column Tuesday night as it rolled over Nebraska at home. Here are 3 things we learned.

The Ohio State basketball team finally experienced the sweet taste of victory in 2020. It had lost four games in a row and looked like a shell of itself against West Virginia and once the Big Ten teams started elbowing their way into the schedule.

What’s a bit ironic is that the Buckeyes did it as a shell of itself — with two starting guards missing from the lineup. Both Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington, Jr, were suspended prior to the game for “failure to meet program standards and expectations.”

The team responded and hit the Cornhuskers on the chin with the Buckeyes separating early and rolling the rest of the way through the remainder of the game. It all led to an impressive 80-68 win in front of the home crowd.

Here are three things we learned.

Next … Better shooting

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WATCH: Chris Holtmann Nebraska preview press conference

Ohio State head basketball coach Chris Holtmann met with the media Tuesday to discuss the team’s upcoming game against Nebraska.

Ohio State is putting the finishing touches on efforts to end a four-game losing streak tomorrow night when it hosts Nebraska in the Schott. With a surprising and disappointing 1-4 record in the conference, it’s one the Buckeyes need desperately. Hopefully a little home cooking will help.

Head coach Chris Holtmann met with the media in Columbus today to discuss the state of his team and to preview the matchup with a Cornhuskers squad that has some pretty good wins on the season.

In case you missed any of Holtmann’s comments, you can listen to them by clicking on the below video of his entire press conference courtesy of the official Twitter feed of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

He discusses the confidence of his team, the lessons that the youngsters are learning, the health of Kyle Young, and more.

The Buckeyes tip-off against Nebraska Tuesday night at 6:30 PM.

Ohio State basketball drops out of Andy Katz’s Power 36

The Ohio State basketball team has been on a slide. So much so that it has dropped out of Andy Katz’s Power 36 poll.

Once thought to be a juggernaut by March Madness’ and the BTN’s Andy Katz, the Ohio State basketball team has now dropped completely out of his Power 36 weekly opinion poll.

To some degree it makes sense. I mean the Buckeyes have dropped four in a row and have yet to win a game in the new decade. They have begun to turn the ball over at an alarming rate, can’t seem to shoot the ball all of a sudden, and have lacked the toughness necessary to compete at a high level in the Big Ten.

It’s a process to say the least.

So okay. But is Ohio State really not one of the 36 best teams in the country? If the rankings are really about the body of work, then there’s still a lot to like outside of the recent pitfalls. The win over Kentucky on a neutral court is going to look better and better, the win over Villanova is nothing to sneeze at, and the schedule has been brutal early.

Regardless, there’s one way to correct the perception building out there about this Ohio State team. It’s to now go out and start winning again. Clearly, there are some things to correct, but don’t worry, things will get better. Or so we hope.

Ohio State basketball falls way down in latest AP poll

Ohio State has slid way down in the latest AP College Basketball Top 25 Poll, but how far?

It was bound to happen. After being just one day away from being ranked No. 1 in the polls, the Ohio State basketball team has now lost four games in a row and continued its slide down the polls. First, it was outside the top five, then outside the top ten, and now, in the latest AP College Basketball Top 25 Poll that was released, the Buckeyes have slid out of the top twenty, all the way down to No. 21.

I guess you could say at least the team is still ranked, especially after what we’ve seen so far in the calendar year of 2020. OSU is now winless since all the confetti fell on New Year’s night. It is 0-4 and searching for ways to take care of the basketball and find its shooting groove again.

So what’s the rest of the top twenty-five look like? It’s a revolving door of sorts, but here’s where everything stands courtesy of the official twitter feed of March Madness.

Gonzaga, Baylor, Duke, Auburn, and Butler make up your top five. The highest ranked Big Ten team is Michigan State all the way down at No. 15.

Ohio State next plays Nebraska at home Tuesday night. To say a win is much needed is the understatement of the new decade.

Don’t worry Ohio State basketball fans, the sky is not falling just yet

Many are frustrated with what we’ve seen from the Ohio State basketball team as of late. But just wait, the season will turn around.

The Ohio State basketball team has hit a January skid. Call it the Fiesta Bowl curse, the physical brand in the Big Ten, or growing pains. No matter the case, the Buckeyes have lost four in a row on the court and have yet to win a game in the calendar year of 2020.

Apparently hindsight is not 2020.

OSU raced out to an 11-1 record, but now sit at 11-5 overall, and a surprising and disappointing 1-4 in the Big Ten. Despite a national ranking of eleventh before the loss at Indiana, it sits in a last-place tie with Northwestern in the Big Ten standings.

Can you hear the splashes of all the bandwagon fans jumping off the ship?

I’m here to tell you to take a deep breath. Things are not as bad as they appear. Yes, it’s a hard, hard truth that this team has some things to work out. The team is actually a tad younger than even last year, and you have to expect some of the new players to struggle with consistency. It’s really not a surprise. Turnovers and bad shooting have plagued the team as of late and there’s no way to swim around that.

But there are reasons.

The schedule as of late has not been kind. The Buckeyes have only lost one game at home in totality (a root canal at the hands of Wisconsin), but three on the road in conference. I don’t have to tell you how hard it is to win on the road in this league — especially this year, one in which the Big Ten is so deep. One only needs to look at Michigan State going down in a heap Sunday by almost thirty points at Purdue for evidence. Or you could point to the fact that Big Ten home teams are winning at an astounding rate this season, more so than anyone can remember.

I’ve seen people actually calling for Chris Holtmann’s job now after a four-game losing streak. Those people simply don’t know basketball, the Big Ten, or human nature at all.

Everything will be fine.

This team still has the pieces to make a run in March. It’s in a bit of a hole now that will make it difficult to win the Big Ten, but the schedule will begin to get a little easier starting Tuesday with a home game against Nebraska. There’s a tough game at Penn State after, but what follows is at home vs. Minnesota, At Northwestern, and home against Indiana. Look for the Buckeyes to claw back close to .500 after the next few games.

It’ll still be a long road to get back up in the upper division of the Big Ten, but this year even finishing with a losing record in-conference can get you into the NCAA Tournament.

This team will get better, and all of those fans and critics calling for knee-jerk changes in a still very young Big Ten campaign will grow silent.

 

 

Eleven Big Ten teams projected in NCAA field

Joe Lunardi has a whopping eleven Big Ten teams in the NCAA projected field if the season were to end today.

There’s still a large part of the season to go, but the Big Ten might be on the verge of a pretty remarkable feat if things stay the course. It’s been a very unpredictable conference season so far, and that speaks to the balance of the league. Look no further than Ohio State for proof. The Buckeyes are ranked No. 11, but are just 1-4 in the league and sit in second to last place.

Michigan State has been the best so far in-conference, but it got the doors blown off of it by 29 points at Purdue Sunday. It’s anyone’s guess how many losses the league champion will have.

But there’s good news in all of this. The conference is projected to have eleven teams in the NCAA field if the season were to end today according to Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology on ESPN. That’s more than any other conference by a wide margin. In fact, the Big East is second with just six teams projected in.

And rather than name all eleven, it’s easier to name the three that wouldn’t be in if the season were to end today. Those three teams are Nebraska, Northwestern, and Minnesota. And that’s with the understanding that the Gophers are just barely out of the field right now.

Now, will arguably the deepest conference in the country get this many teams in when it all really matters? I think it would be a shock to see eleven, but with the way things are going, never say never. Either way, it looks like there’s going to be a severe Big Ten flavor to  March in 2020.

Indiana head coach Archie Miller calls Ohio State a Final Four caliber team

Indiana was able to beat Ohio State in the second half Saturday, but that didn’t change the high opinion Archie Miller has of the Buckeyes.

Indiana used a big start to the second half to separate from Ohio State this weekend and finished it with a twelve-point win. The Buckeyes struggled to slow down Indiana in the first twenty minutes as well, but played resilient and aggressive to reel things back in and took the lead into halftime.

It didn’t last though. The turnovers and poor shooting were just too much to overcome. OSU head coach Chris Holtmann and fans had to feel pretty dejected and frustrated after the game, but that’s not how Hoosier head coach Archie Miller saw things. In fact, he thinks Ohio State is a team that can go pretty deep in March.

While speaking to the media after, Miller heaped praise on this Buckeye squad.

A Final Four team? That would have been much easier to believe a couple of weeks ago, but with Ohio State losing four in a row now and looking absolutely lost on how to take care of the ball, many are wondering if this team was punching above its weight early in the season.

Is Miller just elevating the opponent with his comments like some coaches do, or does he really believe this Buckeye team can make a deep reach in March?