Northwestern dominates Ohio State at both ends, sends Buckeyes to blowout loss
EVANSTON, Ill. – The mist only intensified throughout the day. As nighttime fell in the greater Chicago area, and gametime drew closer, the white fog shrouded the entire region in an ethereal, occasionally stifling haze.
On a Saturday night, it was the backdrop for an Ohio State team whose season is fading into oblivion and whose future is looking even murkier than the air outside Welsh-Ryan Arena. Four days removed from a lackluster loss at Nebraska, a largely noncompetitive 14-point loss, Ohio State was again outclassed, outperformed and outscored by a hefty margin.
Northwestern (15-5, 6-3 Big Ten) dominated Ohio State (13-7, 3-6), leading by double digits for the final 21:06, and rolled to a 83-58 win.
"It’s clear that we’re struggling with our confidence here a little bit now," Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. "I think that’s a clear thing. We’ve got to figure out how to have some success and help them feel some confidence."
Ohio State looked out of answers. As the Buckeyes tried to trap veteran Northwestern guard Boo Buie deep in his own backcourt, he calmly cut back toward the middle of the floor, found a sizeable opening and hit a runner to make it 52-33 not even five minutes into the second half. It marked Ohio State’s biggest deficit of the season, and there was no miraculous comeback in the offing.
Not for a team that has now lost 14 straight road games, its longest streak since it dropped 16 straight in a run that started on Jan. 11, 1997 and lasted until Feb. 25, 1998. Or for a team that has now lost consecutive games to the Wildcats for the first time since 1966-67. Or for a team that has now lost two straight and five of six to sink further and further down the Big Ten standings, each defense coming in less competitive fashion.
The win was just short of Northwestern's most lopsided in program history against the Buckeyes, nearly topping a 78-47 Wildcats win on Jan. 25, 1997. It took a late run in garbage time to prevent Ohio State's first 30-point defeat since Purdue beat the Buckeyes, 86-51, on March 2, 2019.
"Both these losses (this week) have been different than our other ones (in this stretch)," Holtmann said. "That’s our job as coaches, to figure out what’s behind all that. Is it just a significant confidence issue? There’s no question both of these have been different than what we’ve played previously on the road, at Indiana and other places."
That Ohio State team was shorthanded. This one was not, and it didn't matter. Bruce Thornton had 18 points and Roddy Gayle Jr. had 15 as no other Buckeye had more than five.
"Especially this game, we really didn’t make shots and they did," Thornton said. "We got to the free-throw line at times, but when they’re shooting at a high clip like that, it’s really hard to beat a good team like that."
It gets no easier: No. 10 Illinois, which lost inside this same arena in overtime three days prior, comes to Value City Arena on Tuesday night.
Ohio State Buckeyes: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy
It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to grab the lead, and not surprisingly, it came on a 3-pointer. Ryan Langborg’s open jumper from behind a screen put Northwestern ahead 5-4 and was a precursor to what was ahead.
Offensively, Northwestern continually put the Ohio State defense in ball screens it was unable to contest, frequently leading to wide-open 3s. Defensively, the Wildcats continually forced Ohio State’s actions either to the baseline deep in the backcourt or, when the Buckeyes got past the first line of defense, into a double team near the basket.
The Wildcats went into the half 7 for 13 from 3-point range (53.8%), which was a better number than their overall percentage from the floor (53.6%). Ohio State got first-half 3s from two players in pronounced shooting slumps, but it didn’t matter: Gayle broke an 0 for 18 3-point slump with a shot to pull the Buckeyes within 23-20, and Thornton hit a 3-pointer after having gone 6 for 30 (20.0%) in his previous five games.
True to recent form, though Ohio State immediately gave up a 3 after Gayle’s make pulled the Buckeyes within three points. Instead of getting a stop and a chance to tie the game, Langborg drilled a wide-open 3 to push it back to a six-point deficit with 6:21 left in the half. And when Thornton hit his 3 with 4:12 to play, it was Ohio State’s final field goal of the half.
That wasn’t enough to combat Langborg, who had 14 first-half points and was 4 of 6 from behind the arc. Ohio State trailed 41-30 at the half, and it was only that close because the Buckeyes drew 10 first-half fouls and were 12 for 14 from the free-throw line while shooting 7 for 20 from the field.
"It’s a bad loss and embarrassing, but we’re going to come ready to work and definitely get a lot better," fourth-year center Zed Key said.
Get more Ohio State basketball news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Northwestern hands free-falling Ohio State ugly, blowout road loss
