When a team is in midst of a losing skid, every little mistake adds up to a bigger problem.
Those little mistakes can also turn a win, or at least a chance to win the game, into having no shot of winning when the final buzzer sounds. That’s been the case far too often of late for Ohio State, which is under .500 in February for the first time since 2003-04 and has lost nine of its last 10 games.
Ohio State who has now lost eight of its last nine games falls to 11-11 on the season. The last time the Buckeyes were .500 as late as February was in 2004. They started the season 8-4 and finished with a 14-16 record in 2003-04.
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) February 3, 2023
Jim O'Brien was fired following that season.
With Ohio States loss at Michigan this afternoon, the Buckeyes have now lost nine of their last 10 games. The 1-9 stretch is the programs worst since 1997-98, when Ohio State lost 19 of its final 20 games in Jim OBriens first season in Columbus.
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) February 5, 2023
While the Buckeyes have now lost 12 games this season, they’ve had a chance to win most of them. Problem is, they’ve lost far more often than they’ve won in games decided by single digits.
Ohio State is just 2-10 in single-digit games this season, with nine losses in a row in games decided by single-digits. The Buckeyes' last win in a single-digit game came on Dec. 8 over Rutgers, a 67-66 win that should have realistically been a loss as the Buckeyes won a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Tanner Holden that shouldn’t have counted.
| Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 23, 2022 | vs. Texas Tech | W, 80-73 |
| Nov. 30, 2022 | at Duke | L, 72-81 |
| Dec. 8, 2022 | vs. Rutgers | W, 67-66 |
| Dec. 17, 2022 | vs. North Carolina | L, 84-89 (OT) |
| Jan. 5, 2023 | at Purdue | L, 69-71 |
| Jan. 8, 2023 | at Maryland | L, 73-80 |
| Jan. 12, 2023 | vs. Minnesota | L, 67-70 |
| Jan. 15, 2023 | at Rutgers | L, 64-68 (OT) |
| Jan. 18, 2023 | at Nebraska | L, 60-63 |
| Jan. 24, 2023 | at Illinois | L, 60-69 |
| Feb. 2, 2023 | vs. Wisconsin | L, 60-65 |
| Feb. 5, 2023 | at Michigan | L, 69-77 |
Dating back to last season, the Buckeyes have now lost 15 of their past 18 games decided by single digits.
| Season | Single-Digit Record |
|---|---|
| 2017-18 | 8-4 |
| 2018-19 | 7-5 |
| 2019-20 | 7-4 |
| 2020-21 | 10-8 |
| 2021-22 | 7-7 |
| 2022-23 | 2-10 |
| OVERALL | 41-38 |
Ohio State doesn’t believe it’s far off from where it needs to be to win more games, but it’s repeatedly failed to make enough plays to win with the game on the line.
"This group's very special and we just keep coming up short on little things that make a big difference at the end of the day," Justice Sueing said after the Buckeyes' loss at Michigan last Sunday.
Whether it's coaching or just players not making enough plays, Chris Holtmann’s squad hasn’t been able to get the job done under pressure. Isaac Likekele thinks the players should shoulder the blame rather than the coaches.
"I know coach Holtmann and his staff definitely get a lot of scrutinies but those guys they watch this game and they put us in the right position to win the game," Isaac Likekele said in January. "Every single game they give us the answers to win. It's up to us as players to go out there and execute. The coaches tell us that we need to box out every possession but we'll allow 15-16 offensive rebounds. That's not a coaching thing, that's a players' thing.
"Executing plays that we got to execute late game but we run them wrong and the coaches drill us on them and we practice them all the time. That's a players' thing, not a coaches' thing. There have been things as players that we just need to tune up and change. We've been losing by two, three, four points but those guys they do nothing but put us in a position to win."
A few better possessions per game could potentially make a big difference for the Buckeyes, who are 1-3 in one-possession games (decided by three points or less) this season and have lost seven of their last nine one-possession games dating back to last season.
"One, two, three, four possessions can matter. So you got to constantly be fighting to get two or three or four possessions better every game. The results can really change quickly," assistant coach Jake Diebler said a couple of weeks ago.
Ohio State’s struggles in close games become even more glaring when we look at how the rest of the Big Ten has fared in close games this season.
| Team | Record (B1G) | Single-Digit Record | One-Possession Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purdue | 22-2 (11-2) | 7-2 | 4-1 |
| Indiana | 17-7 (8-5) | 4-2 | 1-2 |
| Rutgers | 16-8 (8-5) | 5-5 | 2-2 |
| Michigan | 14-10 (8-5) | 6-8 | 0-2 |
| Iowa | 15-8 (7-5) | 4-4 | 3-2 |
| Northwestern | 16-7 (7-5) | 6-3 | 3-2 |
| Illinois | 16-7 (7-5) | 4-3 | 0-1 |
| Michigan State | 15-9 (7-6) | 9-5 | 3-2 |
| Maryland | 16-8 (7-6) | 3-4 | 0-2 |
| Wisconsin | 14-9 (6-7) | 9-5 | 5-4 |
| Penn State | 14-10 (5-8) | 4-6 | 0-2 |
| Nebraska | 11-13 (4-9) | 3-1 | 2-1 |
| Ohio State | 11-12 (3-9) | 2-10 | 1-3 |
| Minnesota | 7-15 (1-11) | 5-5 | 4-2 |
In a conference that features as many good teams as the Big Ten has this season, every game and every possession matters. Ohio State has struggled in the second half of games time and time again, and its inability to find a way to win in close games is why it currently sits near the bottom of the conference standings.
If the Buckeyes are going to have any chance to salvage a season in which they’re looking increasingly likely to miss the NCAA Tournament, they’re going to have to start turning close losses into clutch wins.
