OSU-UM: Buckeyes Drop Second Straight Conference Game, Look for Answers

It’s amazing how the loss of one player can turn a season upside down for a team.

The Buckeyes are still feeling the loss of Evan Turner a month after the Buckeyes lost their star player.

Ohio State shot a dismal 36 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc, all while being outscored in both halves by a .500 team. Jon Diebler was the team’s leading scorer with 17 points. The Buckeyes only had two other players in double figures, David Lighty with 13 points, and William Buford with 16 points.

Buford had a team high 13 rebounds, but that doesn’t make up for his 5-17 shooting performance. Head coach Thad Matta needs him to step up and become a scoring threat in Turner’s absence.

The Buckeyes are now 0-2 in conference play after they dropped their second game in a row this week, 73-64 to Michigan. Ohio State also got run out of the gym earlier in the week by Wisconsin 65-43.

Before Turner got injured, the Buckeyes seemed destined for another NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Matta.

Right now it’s a stretch to say the Buckeyes will make the NIT. Even when Turner returns later this month or early February, it’ll probably be too much for the Buckeyes to overcome. 

Right now the Buckeyes are the seventh best team in this conference ahead of Penn State, Iowa, and Indiana. The Hoosiers are the Buckeyes next opponent, and are coming off a win over Michigan, the same team that just dropped the Buckeyes.

It's only 14 games into the season but Ohio State is already in crisis mode with its season on the brink. The schedule during the month of January only has one team currently under .500, Iowa, at 5-9. The other teams include No. 6 West Virginia, and No. 4 Purdue along with Wisconsin, Minnesota and Northwestern—all three teams already have 10-plus wins on the season.