January is apparently Cryptonite for the Ohio State basketball team under Chris Holtmann. For the third year in a row, the Buckeyes are mired in an early-year slump, with it continuing on Tuesday night with an 83-69 loss on the road to Nebraska.
If January is Cryptonite, then road games are the Achilles heel. The loss extends the road losing streak to 13, going back to January of last season. It’s now a pattern and one that there doesn’t seem to be any answers for.
The game started out more than fine for OSU, with the Buckeyes getting out to a nine-point lead midway through the first half. That would be short-lived though after Nebraska found its shooting rhythm, reeling Ohio State back in and eventually taking a pretty controlling eight-point lead into the locker room.
The Buckeyes would make a modest run early on in the second half, but the hot shooting of the Cornhuskers’ Rienk Mast and an inability to find any consistency on offense ultimately allowed Nebraska to take control of the game. Ohio State would never really threaten from about the 13-minute mark on.
Guard Bruce Thornton was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal performance. He led the Buckeyes with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Jamison Battle and Bown Hardman also scored in double figures with Batltle notching a hard-earned 11 points in a game that he found it hard to shake free in. What Battle did toss up from long range went in, making 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Ohio State continues to struggle from long range after starting off the season hot, making just 7-of-22 in this one. It also got out-rebounded (35-28) and lost the turnover battle (nine to six), far from a winning formula on the road — or any venue for that matter.
— Ohio State Hoops 🌰 (@OhioStateHoops) January 24, 2024
The loss drops the Buckeyes overall record to 13-6 and their Big Ten record to 3-5. Things don’t look too bright from here either with another Lord of the Rings journey matchup against Northwestern on the road coming up next.
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