Connor Lemons
Guest
History once again on the line as Ohio State men travel to Minnesota
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Despite a massive win over Purdue, the longest road losing streak in program history is now staring Ohio State in the face.
For better or for worse, this is the last time we’ll be writing about the Ohio State men’s basketball team’s infamous road losing streak, which currently stands at 16 games. That streak is currently tied for the longest road losing streak in program history, with the 1996-1998 teams.
The 1996-1997 Ohio State team lost its final eight road games under Randy Ayers, and then the 1997-1998 team — led by first-year head coach Jim O’Brien — lost the first eight road games of the year before finally beating Wisconsin (in the final road game of the year) 61-56.
With Ohio State (15-11, 5-10) heading to Minneapolis Thursday evening to take on the eighth-place Minnesota Golden Gophers (16-9, 7-7), this streak will either stand on its own in the record books or die at 16 games by the end of the evening. Minnesota has been great at Williams Arena aka “The Barn” this season with a record of 14-3, and coincidentally has also played the most home games in the Big Ten this season, thanks to a woefully weak non-conference schedule.
Minnesota’s toughest non-conference game was an 18-point road loss to San Francisco on November 26. Beyond that, it’s tough to find a challenging non-conference opponent on the Gophers’ schedule. Minnesota lost to Missouri 70-68 at home on November 11, and the Tigers are now 8-18 overall, winless in the SEC at 0-13, No. 148 in the NET rankings, and No. 143 in KenPom.
If it weren’t for the weak non-conference schedule, this Minnesota team might’ve been looking at its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019. But as it stands, the Gophers are No. 76 in the NET rankings — 11 spots lower than an Ohio State team that is looking up at them in the Big Ten standings.
While the underlying statistics suggest that the Gophers are beatable at home despite their impressive home record, the clear and obvious statistics make it crystal clear that playing Ohio State at home is the best “get right” game a team can ask for. The Buckeyes are the only team in the Big Ten that has yet to win on the road this season. They lost to last-place Michigan on the road already, let a nine-point lead slip away at Indiana, and blew an 18-point lead on the road at Penn State. The opportunities have been there, but this team gets in its own way as soon as things start to go well for itself when playing away from home.
Following a massive 73-69 upset of No. 3 (then No. 2) Purdue on Sunday afternoon, interim head coach Jake Diebler is hoping to bottle the “us against everybody” energy his Buckeyes played with against the Boilermakers and take it with them to the great white north. At 5-10 in Big Ten play, Ohio State’s only path to maybe stealing an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament is to win out and end the year 20-11 overall and 10-10 in the Big Ten. But with only two quad-one wins on its resume (Alabama and Purdue), even 10-10 wouldn’t guarantee anything.
With that said, running the table is going to require Ohio State to do something it hasn’t done in almost 14 months — win a road game. And then they’ll have to go on the road this weekend and win in East Lansing against Michigan State — something Ohio State has not done since March 4, 2012. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
In the short term, Jake Diebler would just like to get a win Thursday night and avoid etching his name into the record books as the guy who was leading the team when it lost its 17th-consecutive road game. It’s tough to predict this team to win on any given night, but after seeing what Ohio State cooked up against the likely Big Ten champions in Purdue, beating the same Minnesota team that they’ve already beaten once this year seems like a win that’s within reach.
By 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Thursday, either the good times will keep rolling and the vibes will continue to shoot up, up, up ....... or this Ohio State team will own a record that nobody wants to own — ever. It does not feel like there’s any in between, based on how this one turns out. Here’s to hoping Ohio State does not make history Thursday night.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Despite a massive win over Purdue, the longest road losing streak in program history is now staring Ohio State in the face.
For better or for worse, this is the last time we’ll be writing about the Ohio State men’s basketball team’s infamous road losing streak, which currently stands at 16 games. That streak is currently tied for the longest road losing streak in program history, with the 1996-1998 teams.
The 1996-1997 Ohio State team lost its final eight road games under Randy Ayers, and then the 1997-1998 team — led by first-year head coach Jim O’Brien — lost the first eight road games of the year before finally beating Wisconsin (in the final road game of the year) 61-56.
With Ohio State (15-11, 5-10) heading to Minneapolis Thursday evening to take on the eighth-place Minnesota Golden Gophers (16-9, 7-7), this streak will either stand on its own in the record books or die at 16 games by the end of the evening. Minnesota has been great at Williams Arena aka “The Barn” this season with a record of 14-3, and coincidentally has also played the most home games in the Big Ten this season, thanks to a woefully weak non-conference schedule.
Minnesota’s toughest non-conference game was an 18-point road loss to San Francisco on November 26. Beyond that, it’s tough to find a challenging non-conference opponent on the Gophers’ schedule. Minnesota lost to Missouri 70-68 at home on November 11, and the Tigers are now 8-18 overall, winless in the SEC at 0-13, No. 148 in the NET rankings, and No. 143 in KenPom.
If it weren’t for the weak non-conference schedule, this Minnesota team might’ve been looking at its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019. But as it stands, the Gophers are No. 76 in the NET rankings — 11 spots lower than an Ohio State team that is looking up at them in the Big Ten standings.
While the underlying statistics suggest that the Gophers are beatable at home despite their impressive home record, the clear and obvious statistics make it crystal clear that playing Ohio State at home is the best “get right” game a team can ask for. The Buckeyes are the only team in the Big Ten that has yet to win on the road this season. They lost to last-place Michigan on the road already, let a nine-point lead slip away at Indiana, and blew an 18-point lead on the road at Penn State. The opportunities have been there, but this team gets in its own way as soon as things start to go well for itself when playing away from home.
Following a massive 73-69 upset of No. 3 (then No. 2) Purdue on Sunday afternoon, interim head coach Jake Diebler is hoping to bottle the “us against everybody” energy his Buckeyes played with against the Boilermakers and take it with them to the great white north. At 5-10 in Big Ten play, Ohio State’s only path to maybe stealing an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament is to win out and end the year 20-11 overall and 10-10 in the Big Ten. But with only two quad-one wins on its resume (Alabama and Purdue), even 10-10 wouldn’t guarantee anything.
With that said, running the table is going to require Ohio State to do something it hasn’t done in almost 14 months — win a road game. And then they’ll have to go on the road this weekend and win in East Lansing against Michigan State — something Ohio State has not done since March 4, 2012. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
In the short term, Jake Diebler would just like to get a win Thursday night and avoid etching his name into the record books as the guy who was leading the team when it lost its 17th-consecutive road game. It’s tough to predict this team to win on any given night, but after seeing what Ohio State cooked up against the likely Big Ten champions in Purdue, beating the same Minnesota team that they’ve already beaten once this year seems like a win that’s within reach.
By 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Thursday, either the good times will keep rolling and the vibes will continue to shoot up, up, up ....... or this Ohio State team will own a record that nobody wants to own — ever. It does not feel like there’s any in between, based on how this one turns out. Here’s to hoping Ohio State does not make history Thursday night.
Continue reading...