Ohio State men’s basketball team picks up their teammate graduate guard Jamari Wheeler (55) during the Ohio State-Bowling Green game Monday. Ohio State won 89-58. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
The Buckeyes were greeted by a full student section at the Cintas Center during warmups as chants of “Oral Roberts” flooded down on them.
Playing in a true road environment for the first time since March 2020, No. 19 Ohio State struggled to adapt to the adverse atmosphere in Cincinnati, along with the overwhelming size of the Xavier roster.
The loss, however, came down to one thing: toughness.
“I, obviously, need to get us tougher and we need to embrace the idea that we have to play a lot tougher,” Holtmann said. “It’s on all of us. We have to do a much better job of that and grow from this.”
Although the Buckeyes battled to the final whistle, cutting a second-half 11-point deficit to two with 17 seconds remaining in regulation, they were unable to get stops down the stretch to pull themselves into the lead.
Behind three buckets in the paint from senior guard Paul Scruggs in the final three minutes, the Musketeers were able to keep the Buckeyes at arm’s length. Junior forward E.J. Liddell was on the receiving end of one of those buckets, a ridiculous one-handed slam to put Xavier up by five with 30 seconds to go.
“He’s a good player. He’s carried this Xavier team, he’s been doing it for a long time. But, I just feel like we’ve gotta be tougher. We can’t give up three layups in a row,” Liddell said. “He got down in the lane and dunked on me.”
Scruggs’ late-game surge helped Xavier stake out a 38-28 advantage in the paint. He also scored the Musketeers’ final eight points.
Although Liddell fell victim to Scruggs’ posterizing dunk, he spent much of Thursday’s contest as the tone-setter for the Buckeyes. While Liddell’s 17 points on 50 percent shooting may jump off the page, it was his efforts on the defensive end that showed his toughness — racking up a career-high eight blocks.
“I was just trying to do my part. I was trying to bring some energy, be that guy,” Liddell said. “We just got to be tougher.”
Liddell added seven boards, but his efforts on the glass were not enough as Ohio State was outrebounded 43-35 — while allowing 16 offensive rebounds by Xavier.
Holtmann emphasized that rebounding is an area in which the Buckeyes will need to improve going forward.
“I think we’ve gotta focus on a few things, rebounding being one of them,” Holtmann said. “I thought our ability to play with force has to get better.”
For freshman guards Malaki Branham and Meechie Johnson Jr, it was the first time they had played in a hostile environment in their college careers.
Johnson made huge contributions down the stretch, including a 5-0 run that cut the Musketeer lead to three with 3:29 remaining in the game. The Cleveland native finished with 14 points on 3-for-6 from three.
Focusing on his first game in a true road environment, Johnson said it was a learning experience for him.
“Every game is going to be a learning process. We’re just taking it one game at a time. I was ready for it,” Johnson said. “It was a good experience and we got to get better and rise from here.”
As the freshmen got their first taste of an adverse crowd, Liddell pointed to the need to embrace toughness when the odds are stacked against them.
“First time for a lot of young guys and my first time since probably two years ago at Michigan State,” Liddell said. “It was a different environment, we just got to learn and keep moving forward.”
Looking forward, the Buckeyes travel to Fort Myers, Florida, for the Fort Myers Tip-Off. Ohio State kicks off the early-season tournament against another Big East opponent in Seton Hall — who defeated No. 4 Michigan 67-65 Tuesday.
As Ohio State heads south, Liddell said the Buckeyes need to take the lessons they learned Thursday into the next stretch of games.
“These types of games deal with character, honestly. It’s just how you bounce back from it,” Liddell said. “We go to Florida next week, we’ll just see how we bounce back from that.”
