If we’ve learned anything from the young college basketball season, it’s that it’s never too late to turn one’s season around. With the recent Ohio State win streak reaching six games, it’s about time we gave the same credit to the Buckeyes that we’d give to anyone else.
Sure, Thad Matta’s group vastly underachieved to start the season with losses to the likes of UT-Arlington, Memphis, and Louisiana Tech. But since then, they’ve actually shown a handful of promising signs like competing with Virginia and, of course, their recent win streak.
While he was completely invisible in the win over Northwestern, Keita Bates-Diop has emerged as a reliable second scorer besides Marc Loving, opening things up for the dynamic junior who dropped 20 and 27 points against Minnesota and Illinois respectively.
Of course, no one is ready to say that OSU is legitimate and a threat to the rest of the Big Ten, but a win at Indiana on Sunday would certainly begin to get people talking about that possibility. The key to that will be finding ways to slow down IU’s perimeter scoring, which is amongst the best in the nation. Something to note, though, is that Ohio State has given up more than 73 points since their loss to UConn.
In the end, it’s likely that the Buckeyes have a lot of room to grow before they’re taken seriously, but one thing can’t be denied. This Ohio State win streak is no fluke, as their balance between defensive intensity and offensive flow has been a beauty to watch, something we’re used to saying about teams coached by Thad Matta.
