The Ohio State Basketball team came into this game hoping to rebound after a loss at Indiana on Saturday. However, the Buckeyes did not play to their standard of basketball.

Roddy Gayle Jr and Bruce Thorton were almost non-existent from the offense as they shot a combined 7/34(21%) from the field in the loss. This is one of the first times in both Thorton and Gayle’s careers where they each shot this bad from the field combined.

The Outcome

Despite a 15-point first half for Jamison Battle, the Buckeyes were unable to maintain their early first-half lead. Ohio State was able to show flashes of the team that beat Alabama and destroyed Santa Clara early in the season in the first half. But after halftime, the dark side of Team 125 showed. Roddy Gayle Jr and Bruce Thornton have become liabilities in the offense for the second straight game in a row. Coming into this game they shot a combined 7/34 in the Indiana game. After this game, they have now shot 17/64(26%) in their last two games.

Quote by Chris Holtmann on his Radio Show about the amount of missed shots and how he deals with them.

“I pray on the bench, a lot,” Holtmann “I quietly pray that maybe one of these open looks will go in. There were a couple [of] opportunities that you look at where when they were in scramble mode we should’ve driven the ball and maybe created an easier look. They were flying at us. There was one more we missed. “Roddy had a tremendous drive in the second half, kicked it to Bruce, clean look. He might’ve had one more to Jamison. I don’t take issue to those. The offensive rebounds, we could’ve attacked the rim more.”

What Went Wrong

The defense has become quite the issue as well, Wisconsin was able to score 71 points and average 75 on the season which is behind the likes of, Tennessee State and Fairfield. AJ Storr and Max Klesmit were able to get open on almost every single offensive possession at least once both combined for nearly half of the Badgers’ total points. Felix Okpara looked like the best defensive player on the court tonight for The Buckeyes and has been for the past several games, ending the game with three blocks and seven rebounds. Free Throws have been a big part of each loss this season, tonight Ohio State missed six of the ten attempted free throws, getting the offensive rebound only once off a miss.

Good Things To Look At

There are positives to look at coming out of this game. Jamison Battle is your go-to player on offense until the opposing defense takes him out of the equation. Scotty Middleton and Felix Okpara continue to develop into good basketball players, Middleton hit a clutch three that gave the Buckeyes a lead at the ten-minute mark of the second half. Okpara is growing confident as a defender and post-player every game he plays in.

The Buckeyes’ next contest will be against TTUN in Ann Arbor on Monday at a special noon ET tip-off.

Photo Credits: Associated Press