Ohio State basketball loses third straight game

The Ohio State basketball team is not a good basketball team. They have yet to win a game on the road since January 1st, 2023. They have yet to get a signature win this season to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. Worse than that, the Buckeyes just lost their third consecutive game. The Buckeyes fell to Illinois 87-75 on Tuesday night.

Defense is the biggest reason why the Buckeyes lost this game. They allowed the Illini to shoot 51.7% from the field. You’re not going to win many games allowing 87 points and teams to shoot over 50% from the field. That’s especially true when the Buckeyes shot just 4-12 from three. They are a bad three-point shooting team against other Big Ten teams.

The Ohio State basketball team probably won’t be dancing in March.

It’s hard to make the NCAA tournament if you don’t win a road conference game. That’s exactly where the Buckeyes are headed. Their next chance to get a road win is on Friday against Iowa, but nothing I saw on Tuesday convinces me that they are going to get a win in Iowa City. They don’t have anyone who they can rely on offensively.

Bruce Thornton is the best offensive player the Buckeyes have. He was just 3-11 in this game. The offense actually wasn’t the issue for once. The terrible defense continues to plague them. In the last three games, the Buckeyes have allowed a total of 253 points. That’s an average of 84.3 points per game.

Until the defense improves, the Buckeyes are going to keep losing games. They have a month and a half to go on a run that could get them into the NCAA Tournament. In my mind, they have to do something special at the end of the season and win a few games in the Big Ten Tournament to have any shot to go dancing.

I wouldn’t bet on it. The Buckeyes need a new leader. I’m hoping we won’t be seeing Chris Holtmann failing to make adjustments this time next year.