Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann coaches from the sideline in the first half of the game against Cincinnati on Nov. 6. Ohio State won 64-56. Credit: Cori Wade | Assistant Photo Editor
In its loss to unranked Wisconsin, then-No. 5 Ohio State held a 51-47 lead with 4:30 to play.
Over the next 4:26, the Badgers outscored the Buckeyes 14-3, sealing off an eventual 61-57 victory after a garbage-time 3-pointer by Ohio State sophomore guard Duane Washington.
The Buckeyes haven’t been tested in crunch time on many occasions in the 2019-20 season, and they failed Saturday. With a full slate of Big Ten contests still on the agenda, head coach Chris Holtmann and company are scrambling to find the answer to two questions: How does the team handle crunch time and who gets the ball?
“We should know that,” Holtmann said. “Got a couple of guys that gotta figure it out.”
With wins against three opponents then ranked in the Associated Press Poll top 10, one would think Ohio State is accustomed to handling the pressure that accompanies tight contests late.
A closer examination of those results reveals otherwise.
The Buckeyes beat then-No. 10 Villanova and then-No. 7 North Carolina both by 25, requiring no key makes late to win either game.
Their win over then-No. 6 Kentucky was by a slimmer six-point margin, but Ohio State led by multiple possessions in the final 3:58. It didn’t need to call upon somebody for a crucial play with the game on the line.
“I think that’s been the one difference is we have not had a whole lot of one-, two-possession games late in games where that question has had to be answered,” Holtmann said.
After a 67-55 defeat against No. 12 Maryland Tuesday, the Buckeyes have dropped three contests in a row.
Outside Wisconsin, another loss in Ohio State’s three-game tumble came from poor clutch play, when it led then-No. 22 West Virginia 54-53 with 4:43 to play only to lose 67-59.
A natural solution to a clutch dilemma is often a squad’s best scorer. For Ohio State, that’s junior forward Kaleb Wesson, who leads the team in both points and rebounds per game.
Against Wisconsin, Wesson scored 22 of the Buckeyes’ 57 points but failed to score in the final six minutes.
Wesson plays on the interior, and teams can make it difficult to get him the ball through double-teams and other off-ball defensive techniques. He shoots 44 percent from 3, but failed to convert an open, potential game-tying look from behind the arc with 21 seconds remaining against Wisconsin.
“If Kaleb’s the only one scoring, it’s just easier to get more attention on Kaleb,” redshirt junior guard CJ Walker said. “So I just feel like we’ve gotta find that equal balance.”
Given that their position is predicated on handling the ball and working the perimeter, guards are a natural source of late production.
In the final four minutes against West Virginia and Wisconsin, Ohio State’s guards combined to shoot 3-for-10, with four turnovers and no assists.
Rectifying that trend is a matter of focus, Walker said.
“You’ve gotta stay on tap with the coaching staff, whether it’s play-calling or making sure everybody’s in the right spot,” Walker said. “We haven’t been in these situational-type games, one-possession games with a couple minutes left. We’ve had pretty good wins before, so we’ve just gotta engage and stay connected and stay focused at all times.”
Offensive rebounding also hurt the Buckeyes during their stretch run against the Badgers. Wisconsin pulled down five offensive boards in the final 6:30, creating three second-chance points.
“Wisconsin made more plays, critical offensive rebounds there down the stretch,” Holtmann said.
Junior forward Kyle Young, the team’s No. 2 rebounder after Wesson, was out against Wisconsin after having his appendix removed.
Wesson gathered 13 boards in his absence, but no other Ohio State player picked up more than five as Wisconsin freshman forward Tyler Wahl crashed the glass.
“Given the fact that [Wahl] had five offensive rebounds and we had trouble matching up with him, I’m sure he would have helped,” Holtmann said. “But listen, we’ve got good enough players to limit that, and we’ve gotta coach them to be better and play better.”
Ohio State will need to find the answers to those critical crunch-time conundrums in short order.
Because the Big Ten schedule is rolling on, and if they have any postseason ambition, the Buckeyes will need to improve on their 1-3 conference record.
