2023 Ohio State University
Ohio State has now lost seven straight games. They have lost 12 of their 14 games played in 2023. I'll let that sink in for a minute.
Since Ohio State began playing basketball in 1898, only 28 teams have had a losing record. The 2022-23 team is on the verge of becoming the 29th team to do so unless they can pull off a miracle and win out the last five games of the season. Their two games this week were flat out bad. They lost to Michigan State at home last Sunday (February 12th) before falling to Iowa on the road on Thursday (February 16th).
The game against Michigan State was bad from start to finish, as the Buckeyes were down by nearly twice their own score at the half before eventually losing 62-41. Their 41 points was the least amount of points in program history since 1997 when they were downed by the Spartans 55-41. Only Sean McNeil made it to double-digit scoring, and he did so while shooting 31% from the field.
Their offensive woes would not last long as they were off to the races in game two against the Hawkeyes, but despite a hot shooting night that saw the Buckeyes score one of their highest totals of conference play, they wound up losing 92-75. With as bad as the offense was against Michigan State, the defense may have been worse against the Hawkeyes. Sean McNeil was Player of the Game for the Buckeyes, as not only did he lead the team in scoring, he did so without missing a single shot all night long. He was 7/7 from the floor, 4/4 from three, and 2/2 from the free-throw stripe.
The Buckeyes will be back on national TV for the final time in both of their games this week. On Sunday (February 19th) at 1 p.m., the Buckeyes travel west to face off against No. 3 Purdue on CBS. Then, on Thursday (February 23rd) at 6:30 p.m. they will play host to Penn State on Fox Sports 1.
2023 Ohio State University
It's not all bad in Columbus, as the ladies have continued to play good basketball down the stretch despite some rough patches. They went 1-1 in their games this week, as they were able to down the Nittany Lions on the road 67-55 but dropped their home game against No. 2 Indiana early in the week 83-59.
It's amazing the Buckeyes are able to win at all since they have been forced to play this past week without their top two players in Jacy Sheldon, who has missed the majority of the season, and one of their top players in Rebeka Mikulasikova. Taylor Thierry, Cotie McMahon and Taylor Mikesell have come out of nowhere this season to play big time minutes and score big time buckets to supplement the losses of Sheldon and Mikulasikova.
They now have just two more games left on the season. Game one will be on Monday (February 20th) up in Ann Arbor, as they take on their 12th-ranked rivals to the north at 7 p.m. On Friday (February 24th), they will end off the regular season at home against No. 8 Maryland at 6 p.m. on Big Ten Network. These two games will have a huge impact on where the Buckeyes will be seeded for March Madness and the Big Ten Conference Tournament, which starts March 1st.
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