ANN ARBOR — Watching the Ohio State and Michigan basketball teams play Tuesday night at the Crisler Center, I felt like I was back at the chalkboard in detention.
I will not draw grand conclusions from games in November and December.
I will not draw grand conclusions from games in November and December.
I will not draw ...
Lesson learned.
For much of the Buckeyes’ 61-58 win, the rivals looked like the stoppable force against the movable object.
I mean, Michigan shot 33 percent and still had the lead in the final minute.
“Reminded me of the old school Big Ten,” Wolverines coach Juwan Howard said, presumably referring to the late 19th century.
To their credit, Ohio State and Michigan gave the sold-out crowd an entertaining finish, with the lead swapping hands 10 times in the final nine minutes — a sprint marked by the controversial and the clutch.
Give it up especially for the Buckeyes’ co-leading men.
In this swallow-the-whistle rock fight, big man Kaleb Wesson delivered the performance of his season — 23 points, 12 rebounds — while reserve guard Duane Washington hit the shot of Ohio State’s season, sinking a game-winning 3 with 57 seconds left for the last of his 17 points.
The Buckeyes justly made no apologies for their third straight win.
“Proud of our guys,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said.
Still, it was hard not to leave the arena wondering: Were these really the same two teams from earlier in the season?
Since a series of high-profile early wins elevated Ohio State (15-7, 5-6 Big Ten) and Michigan (13-9, 4-7) as high as second and fourth in the AP poll, respectively, they have tumbled off the face of the hoops planet, out of the national rankings and on a path toward the NCAA tournament bubble.
What gives?
With Michigan, at least there is a reasonable explanation. A team with a new coach and a roster in transition lost its most dynamic scorer (Isaiah Livers) and has endured its share of growing pains in a brutal league. Makes sense, no?
But I’ll confess: I’ve got nothing on Ohio State.
The degree of the Buckeyes’ downturn is a head scratcher.
In a season absent a super team, the Ohio State group we saw the first two months looked like a real contender in the Big Ten and beyond.
Here was a veteran team that welcomed in the top recruiting class in the league, headlined by five-star point guard D.J. Carton, and the pieces seemed to align perfectly. A slimmed-down Wesson looked like a league player-of-the-year candidate, the offense flowed freely, and the Buckeyes were wrecking everyone, from then-No. 10 Villanova to seventh-ranked North Carolina. In fact, they became just the fourth team in the 72-year history of the AP basketball poll to beat two top-10 teams by at least 25 points in the same season. The previous three? They all won the national title.
But after the Buckeyes peaked at 11-1 with a 71-65 victory over No. 6 Kentucky in Las Vegas, a funny thing happened.
What happened in Vegas really did stay in Vegas.
The Buckeyes are like the lost friend from The Hangover. Except, in this case, they haven’t been found.
Since Ohio State left the Sin City, the players wearing its jerseys — reputedly the same ones, but no one is sure — are 4-6 and, in another bit of AP poll history, have become the seventh team ever to take the elevator ride from No. 2-to-unranked in the same season.
What’s the matter? For starters, the offense — the same one that averaged 79.2 points in the first dozen games — has failed to reach 60 points in five of the last 10 games; a go-to, late-game option has yet to emerge, and Holtmann has questioned the team’s toughness.
Additionally, Carton has taken an indefinite leave from the team, citing mental health issues. His courage to speak out deserves our admiration and is far more important than any basketball game.
As for the games, it should be noted here — again — the Big Ten really is brutal. Same as last year, the Buckeyes could go 8-12 in the league and — because of the strength of their nonconference wins and a Big Ten that realistically could send 10 teams to the tourney — comfortably go dancing.
Still, their three straight wins against bottom-half league teams notwithstanding, the Buckeyes are a far shout from where they want to be.
And from where they should be.
If Holtmann overachieved in his first two years at Ohio State, this season is trending the other direction.
Or perhaps it was trending that direction.
The good news for the Buckeyes is time remains on their side. As Tuesday showed, their story is yet to be written.
First Published February 5, 2020, 4:27 a.m.
