Chris Holtmann Takes Blame For Ohio State’s Effort In Losses To Maryland, Nebraska

"We did not play together enough on either end, and that’s my fault."

Ohio State suffered its worst loss under head coach Chris Holtmann on Tuesday night, as Nebraska – which entered the game as a 15-point underdog – pulled a 78-70 upset at Value City Arena.

It marked the second straight loss for the Buckeyes, who were still in contention for the Big Ten regular season title before falling at Maryland, 75-60, on Sunday afternoon. And now with only two games remaining, Ohio State finds itself searching for answers after being exposed defensively and on the boards by two of the four-worst teams in the conference in a span of just three days.

"I think bottom line, we have to defend way better than what we’re defending right now. It comes back to that," Holtmann said during his postgame press conference. "We’ve got to be way more connected on the defensive end and I thought we really pressed offensively once we got down a little bit. We had some unique lineups in there and we just pressed too much."

The Buckeyes were without sophomore forward Zed Key, who suffered an ankle injury in the loss to the Terrapins. Fifth-year senior Kyle Young got the start in his place, but played just eight minutes until he was overcome by illness and ruled out for the rest of the game.

Holtmann could have used their absences as an excuse, just like he could have made  the season-ending injury to sixth-year senior forward Seth Towns or extended absence of fifth-year senior Justice Sueing as an excuse for Ohio State’s struggles at different points in the season. He instead put the onus on himself.

"This is the worst season of injuries I’ve ever had, and I thought last year was bad," Holtmann said. "But we have to correct what we can correct, and the bottom line is we’re not connected enough on either end right now. We did not play together enough on either end, and that’s my fault.

"I think the greater issue is our lack of ability to stop people right now and our lack of connection on the defensive and offensive end. Again, that’s my fault. We don’t have that right now … Until we fix those things, we’re going to have some of the same results. These are disappointing losses, put them on me. I’m sure that will be the case anyway."

The Buckeyes are in the midst of a stretch that includes seven games in the final 16 days of the regular season, as they rescheduled the game against Nebraska and the Feb. 19 loss to Iowa after both matchups were postponed earlier in the year due to COVID-19 and travels issues, respectively.

With that, Ohio State hasn’t practiced as often as it normally would in order to avoid fatigue. But that also means less time spent preparing for their opponents during a critical stretch that features upcoming games against Michigan State on Thursday and Michigan on Sunday.

"We’ve had some serious slippage in some of our defensive habits, and that could be a lack of practice time, but I’m not sure if practicing is the right plan right now given our schedule," Holtmann said. "Certainly, defense and rebounding have been significant issues for us and if we don’t get those cleaned up, we’ll continue to see the kind of results we’ve seen here the last two games."

The Buckeyes have allowed just 68.1 points per game this season, but that number has increased to 76.5 the last two games. Holtmann knows that won’t cut it in the Big Ten or NCAA tournaments when every possession is crucial.

"There’s very few teams that defend the way we defend right now and advance in the NCAA Tournament. That’s the reality," Holtmann said. "Obviously, we’ve got to get healthy, that’s a big component. We’ve got to get healthy and stay healthy, but if we don’t defend and rebound, we’ll be terminal.

"We’re obviously really struggling right now, that’s no secret. We’ll see if this group has the ability to gain a little trust in each other and confidence. We’ve got a really good group, we’ve got really good guys, but I think we’re searching a little bit and I think we’re pressing too much right now."

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