Ohio State University 2023
It was another disappointing week in the land of the Scarlet and Gray, as twice the Buckeyes took the floor and twice they lost. Game one of the week was against their rivals to the north, who have riding a wave of momentum through conference play and used that to their advantage last Sunday. The Buckeyes kept it close, but they could never close the gap and fell to "The Team Up North" 77-69 despite a fantastic 22-point performance from Bruce Thornton. The team struggled as a whole this entire week, as they shot only 40% from the field.
Game two of the week saw the Buckeyes return to Columbus and then get shut down in front of their home crowd by the Northwestern Wildcats. The Bucks young star in Sensabaugh has gone ice cold from the floor in the last few games and has been moved to the bench and had his minutes cut as a result. He managed just four points on 1/8 from the field. Justice Sueing had a great day, finishing with 19 points, but without the help of Sensabaugh, the Buckeyes fell short yet again, 69-63.
Ohio State will have another two chance this upcoming week to turn things around on national television when they defend home court against the invading Spartans from the north on Sunday (February 12th) at 1 p.m. on CBS. Then, on Thursday (February 16th), they will hit the road to take on Iowa at 9 p.m. on ESPN2 for one of their final road games of the season.
Ohio State University 2023
The ladies basketball team of Ohio State struggled once more against a Top 25 team, as their first game of the week saw them face off against No. 8 Maryland on the road. The Buckeyes put together one of their worst shooting performances of the season, managing just 54 points on 33% shooting from the field. They also went just 6/23 from the three-point line.
With their extraordinary struggles on offense, they lost all confidence in themselves, and the Terrapins dropped an outstanding 90 points on a defense that at one point this season ranked amongst the best in the nation. Taylor Thierry was the lone bright spot for the team, as she dropped in another 20-plus point performance in the loss.
Luckily their shooting struggles were short lived, as game two of the week was against the struggling Minnesota Golden Gophers, who gave the Buckeyes a challenge in their prior meeting. History would not repeat itself this time around, as the ladies in gray returned to form and picked up win No. 21 on the season, outscoring the Gophers 93-63, with five players scoring in double figures.
The road ahead is a tricky one for the Buckeyes, as they have just four games remaining in the regular season and three of them are against Top 10 teams that have already beaten the Buckeyes this year. On Monday (February 13th), Ohio State will play No. 2 Indiana at 7 p.m. on the Big 10 Network The Hoosiers beat the Buckeyes in Indiana back in January by 13. Game two of the week sees the Scarlet and Gray jump state lines to the east to take on Penn State on Thursday (February 16th) at 7 p.m.
