CHICAGO — Five times since Thad Matta became coach in 2004, Ohio State has persevered through the grind of the Big Ten basketball season to emerge with at least a share of the conference title.
Each time, with a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament conceivably locked up already, the Buckeyes nevertheless ground some more to reach the championship game of the Big Ten tournament.
But …“I’ve never said we’ve got to win the Big Ten tournament championship,” Matta said. “It’s just been like, ‘Hey, let’s go have some fun. Let’s go play basketball over there and see what happens.’ It has worked to this point, knock on wood. I don’t know what will happen this year.”
Riding a five-game winning streak that nearly carried them to a fourth consecutive conference title, the Buckeyes make their Big Ten tournament debut tonight in a quarterfinal against Nebraska in the United Center.
Ranked No. 10 nationally, and the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, Ohio State has impressed bracketologists with its late winning streak, and they have moved the Buckeyes as high as a No. 2 seed in mock-ups of the NCAA Tournament bracket, which will be revealed on Sunday night.
But whereas some teams, and coaches, might choose to briefly rest on their laurels for a week before beginning the chase for a national championship, that has never been the Buckeyes’ modus operandi under Matta. They have made the tournament final six times in the past seven seasons, including the past four.
“I just think you go into any tournament trying to win,” guard Aaron Craft said. “That goes back to when you first start playing basketball. It brings back the AAU days (where) you’re just trying to play as many games as you can. If we’re playing a game, we want to win. We’re not thinking about what’s coming down the road.”
