No. 6 Buckeyes hope they learned from loss

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

It wasn’t just the loss. Or even an historically bad shooting performance.

It was how sixth-ranked Ohio State acted that stung the Buckeyes most about their defeat Saturday to No. 7 Michigan State.

“Honestly, we looked like spoiled brats out there if you look at the tape — arguing with one another, complaining about calls,” forward Jared Sullinger said Monday.

Guard William Buford said the Buckeyes at times didn’t even try to play a team-oriented game in the 58-48 loss. Instead of doing what they had done in winning 21 of their first 24 games, they pushed and pulled against each other.

“We didn’t play our system,” he said. “That was the main thing.”

A lengthy film session on Sunday allowed Ohio State’s coaches to show the players how they wandered away from their nature.

Now they believe they’ve figured out some things heading into a quick turnaround game at Minnesota (17-8, 5-7 Big Ten) on Tuesday night.

Coach Thad Matta figured there were several lessons to be learned from the loss to Michigan State, which dropped the Buckeyes (21-4, 9-3) into a tie for first in the conference with the Spartans (20-5, 9-3).

“We have to play better,” he said. “We have to play more connected, we have to play our system. No matter what happens, it’s a long game, there’s going to be ups, there’s going to be downs, but we have to have great trust in what we’ve done 105 times in practice [this year] that it will work.”

The Buckeyes have been beaten up enough, that’s for sure. Callers to talk-radio shows and posts to fan websites have questioned Buford’s shot selection, Sullinger’s attitude, forward Deshaun Thomas’ defense, Matta’s substitution patterns and the offensive contributions of starters Lenzelle Smith Jr. and Aaron Craft.

Matta said after the game that he had reminded his players that the loss was not as bad as it might seem, that the Buckeyes were still tied for the Big Ten lead.

The first step was a detailed analysis of the game film. Ohio State hit just 26 percent of its shots (14 of 53), including 2 of 15 3-pointers. Sullinger was just 5 of 15 from the field, Thomas and Buford were each 2 of 12, Smith was 1 for 4 and Craft 3 of 7.

“I think we kind of learned our lesson watching film for about an hour so,” Sullinger said. “We should be fine. We just have to bounce back and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”