“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.”
Malcolm X
Similar words should be plastered all over the Ohio State Buckeyes locker room in the wake of Tuesday night’s 72-68 loss to their Big Ten Conference foe Michigan State Spartans. The Buckeyes’ frantic second-half rally pushed the game to overtime, but MSU had more left in the tank.
OSU’s first defeat of the year left a more sour taste than usual in the mouth of coach Thad Matta.
“Yeah, I’m proud we came back, but we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be to start the game,” Matta said to the Toledo Blade’s David Briggs. “We can’t come on the road and have 21 turnovers. We had shots to win the game.”
Neither coach was terribly happy after the game, with Michigan State’s Tom Izzo fuming over the late-game collapse, and Matta concerned that a wild comeback was needed at all.
As the man said, however, the loss carries multiple learning tips for the Buckeyes as they load up for the remainder of the Big Ten schedule.
Be Punctual
Those 21 turnovers that Matta alluded to were by far a season high for Ohio State. The vast majority—17, already breaking the previous high against Morgan State—came in the game’s first 32 minutes, helping stake Sparty to that 55-38 lead. From there, the Buckeye mistakes slowed to a trickle as if someone had found the valve to turn off a flooding…
Continue Reading: Biggest Lessons Ohio State Needs to Learn from Michigan State Loss
