OSU faces quick turnaround

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Thad Matta was hit with so many “what went wrong?” questions on Monday that it was as if his Ohio State team’s record was 2-25 instead of 25-2.

A day after the second-ranked Buckeyes fell 76-63 at No. 8 Purdue, the seventh-year coach tried to put things in perspective.

“From the tone of this, I thought we lost a bowl game today,” he said with a laugh, poking fun at the dark cloud that settles over the city when the football team infrequently falters.

The Buckeyes aren’t faced with a long winter of grieving over a cataclysmic loss. They get little more than 48 hours before hosting Illinois (17-10, 7-7 Big Ten) tonight.

So, coach, how will you get your team ready for the Illini?

“We’ve got to sift through all the adversity and find a way ...” he said, his voice trailing off.

Then he laughed.

In Matta’s way of thinking, the Buckeyes have played well enough to still be unbeaten except for a few mistakes — and two hot hands.

Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half to lead then-No. 13 Wisconsin back from a 15-point deficit on Feb. 12 to hand the Buckeyes their first loss, 71-67. Taylor hit shots with hands in his face, from several feet behind the arc and while off balance.

After the Buckeyes beat Michigan State — a top-10 team at the outset of the season — on Tuesday, the Buckeyes were beaten again by a guard who couldn’t miss.

On Sunday, Purdue’s E’Twaun Moore scored a career-high 38 points in leading No. 8 Purdue to a 76-63 upset.

“Maybe two of the best performances in college basketball this year,” Matta said of Taylor and Moore. “And as my luck always has it, I had a first-row seat to watch it.”