Buckeyes play more freely but still take road loss to Michigan

On Feb 6, 2023

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – It’s not exactly been a secret that something has been wrong with the Ohio State men’s basketball team for the better part of a month.

Since a blowout win at Northwestern on New Year’s Day, the Buckeyes have embedded themselves in a losing streak the likes of which the program hasn’t seen in nearly two decades. Sunday afternoon at the Crisler Center, Michigan became the latest to add to Ohio State’s litany of woes as it handed the Buckeyes a 77-69 loss, the program’s ninth in 10 games.

The Wolverines scored 22 seconds into the game and held that lead for the duration, building their lead as high as 13 points with six minutes to play and maintaining at least a two-possession lead for the final 13 minutes. On paper, it looks like all the others – another loss for the Buckeyes, and another one by single digits. Along the way, though, freshman point guard and burgeoning team captain Bruce Thornton broke out of his own personal slump with a 22-point effort.

So, to an extent, did sixth-year forward and captain Justice Sueing, whose 14 points were the most he’s totaled since he had 21 in a loss at Maryland on Jan. 8. And across the board, Thornton said he felt there was something different about how the Buckeyes played against the Wolverines.

Not necessarily better. Just different.

“I didn’t feel like we played better, but we played freely,” Thornton said. “It wasn’t so much tense (that) people were overthinking certain situations. We were just playing the game, playing the game we’ve been doing since a young age. Free-flowing.”

It wasn’t enough to snap the losing streak, and there’s no guarantee that playing with a better spirit will translate to Thursday’s home game against Northwestern. But it was an acknowledgement that, as the losses have piled up, the Buckeyes have been feeling the strain and allowing it to affect their play.

“Our plan was to be more aggressive and a lot of guys playing more free,” Sueing said. “We got the ball moving a lot better than the last few games. It’s something to build on, but we’ve got work to do.”

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It’s well past the point of the season where teams will talk about playing for moral victories, and there was none of that from coach Chris Holtmann, Sueing or Thornton after the loss to the Wolverines. This remains a team seemingly incapable of stringing enough consistent effort on both ends to finish a game with more points than its opponent, and with eight Big Ten games remaining the Buckeyes have significant work to do just to avoid a bottom-four finish and playing on the first day of the conference tournament.

Like Sueing, Thornton said this was something Ohio State could build upon.

“When you play the game like that, it’s way easier than playing it tense and frustrated,” he said. “One thing we were saying was have a free spirit. I know our situation is not really good right now, but having a free spirit, come every day and be the best player you can be every single day.”

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For Sueing, it was one of his better games in recent memory. In addition to his 14 points, he did not turn the ball over. Asked what felt different in this one, he said, “Just being more aggressive. Sometimes I get caught up in the flow of the game. Being aggressive. My teammates are helping push me through, working every day. You’ve got to work out of little slumps like that. We’re going to continue to do that individually and as a team.”

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The Buckeyes entered the Crisler Center with a chance to win their third straight game here for the first time since winning four straight from Feb. 18, 1967-Feb. 27, 1971. Last year, they beat Michigan 68-57 thanks to a 28-point outing from E.J. Liddell, but that wasn’t his most significant impact on the game. Between Liddell and fifth-year senior Kyle Young, the Buckeyes frustrated Michigan’s 7-1 center Hunter Dickinson, limiting him to 14 points on 7 of 16 shooting.