Ohio State Buckeyes say poor practices paved way for decisive loss at Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The seeds for what the most disappointing loss of the season were sewn before Ohio State walked into the State Farm Center on Tuesday night.

It was Saturday afternoon that the Buckeyes had savored a long-delayed taste of success. Nearly three weeks removed from its last win, Ohio State reverted to its early-season form, spread the ball around and enjoyed a comfortable, 16-point home win against Iowa. It ended the much-analyzed five-game Big Ten losing streak and, seemingly, reminded the Buckeyes what they could look like when playing at a high level.

Then instead of building on that performance, Ohio State put together a disappointing stretch of practices leading into Tuesday’s game at Illinois that, if they didn’t doom the Buckeyes to failure, certainly crippled their chances in what would become a 69-60 loss.

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“I feel like it could’ve been way better,” freshman Bruce Thornton said of the team’s practices before Illinois. “That’s the only thing I can really say. When we practice together and put Ohio State on our chest and play for that, I feel like it’s a good chance we’ll have a win every night.”

Thornton, who has recently been included in the team’s captain meetings alongside sixth-year forward Justice Sueing, fifth-year guard Isaac Likekele and third-year center Zed Key, was the first player to meet with reporters after what was a lengthy postgame discussion within the locker room. In 27:36, Thornton finished with 8 points, one rebound and a steal after playing a season-low 14:38 and going scoreless against Iowa while dealing with fatigue.

Moments later, coach Chris Holtmann took the podium and was asked if the team’s practice leading into the game was culpable in the final outcome.

“I think it definitely was a factor,” he said. “There’s no question about it. Ultimately that was on me. That was definitely a factor. Not sure we would’ve won the game. Think we would’ve played better.

“We might’ve still performed well and lost. In this league it’s certainly possible, but I’m disappointed with both our preparation and our effort and ultimately that falls on me.”

Against Iowa, Ohio State moved the ball, competed for the duration and never really let the Hawkeyes dictate much of their plans on the game. At Illinois, the opposite was true. Ohio State took an early 9-5 lead, went stagnant offensively and allowed a 9-1 run that gave Illinois a 14-10 lead with 10:22 left in the half.

The Buckeyes never led again. The deficit reached a season-high 17 points during the second half, and only an 8-0 run capped by a Sueing 3-pointer at the buzzer prevented this from being the most lopsided loss of the season for Ohio State.

At least, as far as the scoreboard goes. From a competitive standpoint, this was the biggest blowout of the season for the Buckeyes.

“We just didn’t ever have the kind of fight and bite you needed in a game like this,” Holtmann said. “Ultimately, that’s on me. That’s my responsibility. We didn’t have it.”

Why was that? Sueing, who scored 11 of his 13 points during the second half, also took responsibility for Ohio State’s preparation leading into the game.

“We just had some lackadaisical things that we shouldn’t have had happen,” he said. “That’s all it is. It’s just a mindset thing, but it’ll get cleared up because that’s the only way we’re going to be able to progress and win games.”

The problem is that these issues aren’t new for the Buckeyes, who are not yet to the midpoint of the Big Ten season. In single-digit losses to Purdue, Maryland, Minnesota, Rutgers and Nebraska, Ohio State lamented numerous little things that added up to a sequence of close losses. On Tuesday, Thornton and Sueing reiterated a similar viewpoint, that the team’s problems are small and easily correctable.

They’re just not getting corrected. At least, not yet. And that was a major focus of what was a lengthy postgame talk within the locker room.

“Postgame was really just telling the truth to each other,” Sueing said. “There’s clearly some things we need to work on and we’ve been saying (that). It’s getting repetitive as far as what we’re saying, so we really need to lock in. The season’s not going to slow down for us to get ready. That’s what it consists of and that’s all it is.”

The opening to the second half was the tipping point. Sueing said the Buckeyes talked about opening with the proper mindset and focus and instead allowed the Illini to grow their 34-26 lead into 12 points with four points in the first minute. Less than five minutes into the second half, Ohio State trailed 48-31 – its largest deficit of the season.

On a night where offense was again hard to come by, it was insurmountable.

“It’s on us buying into the coaches,” Sueing said. “A lot of it you could say is on me. Maybe I could be a better leader, trying to lead this group coming into games like this, getting ready for these hostile environments, getting ready to play. You can put that on me, as well as the loss on me.

“It’s an accumulation of things, but the important thing is we have to continue to put our head down and get ready to work.”

It’s clear that didn’t happen after the Iowa game, and given what had transpired to this point, Thornton said this loss stung differently.

“This one hurts the most for me, personally,” he said. “Just the level of attention to detail on certain things, it just sucks. That’s very controllable. I feel like we’ll take care of the smaller things and then we’ll be all right.”

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Poor preparation helped send Ohio State to loss at Illinois