COLUMBUS – Ohio State suffered its second loss in a row in a heartbreaking 62-59 loss to Minnesota at home on Thursday night. The Buckeyes now sit at 2-6 in the Big Ten and 12-7 overall.
Head coach Chris Holtmann, junior forward Kyle Young and redshirt-junior C.J. Walker spoke with the media following the game. Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino also answered questions from reporters.
Here’s a summary of what was said.
Chris Holtmann
+ He thought his guys really battled and competed but thought Minnesota made plays down the stretch.
+ The demeanor was great in the huddle. It was a secondary look but demeanor was great in the huddle.
+ He doesn’t know how good the contest was on Carr on that last shot. He will have to look at it but it wasn’t good enough.
+ They took a step forward in some areas but right now they aren’t good enough in enough areas to win in this league.
+ 14 rebounds for Kaleb Wesson, his ball screen defense was outstanding and he really had to work for the better part of the game. He had a few around the basket he would normally make but he created a lot of opportunities for other guys. It was a tough floor game but he is pleased with his effort.
+ He thought the team played tougher and harder.
+ “People on the outside evaluate on wins and losses but we evaluate on progress and I thought we took a step forward in some areas.”
+ Tonight he didn’t think they were great on transition defense and finishing around the rim. They have to find a way as coaches to put them in better positions and stay together as a group and figure out how to be better.
+ On getting to the foul line, Holtmann didn’t think they were as attacking and aggressive in the second half. He also thought it was called differently in the second half and they called a bit tighter in the first half.
+ Kaleb Wesson played really hard tonight. He was really competing and that could ahem affected his offense a bit. But we had other guys who were able to make plays with the attention he was given.
+ Kyle Young is getting his energy back. Defensively he was good. He’s slowly but surely getting his energy back.
+ “We knew it was going to be a tight game.”
Kyle Young
+ “We felt like we were competing and laying hard. Our energy was better. We felt like we were going to win that game.”
+ “The game is over, there’s nothing we can do about it now.”
+ His motor felt better tonight.
+ On when he came out of the game, Young said you always want to be in the game but he trusts the coaches and they were playing heavy off of him so maybe they wouldn’t have got what they needed if he was in there so they sent a guard in.
C.J. Walker
+ They were trying to get the teams’ best shot and make the play. They got a good shot from Kaleb Wesson and he was wide open from there but it just didn’t fall.
+ “Make the right plays the whole game and then that happens. It hurts.”
+ They were trying to get a layup from Duane Washington Jr. for the backdoor but it didn’t fall through and then Kaleb Wesson was open.
+ “A month ago we had something rolling we just have to figure it out.”
+ They took what Coach Holtmann said about being more physical and really focused on that. They thought they did it just came down to that last shot.
Richard Pitino
+ Marcus Carr executed the last shot to perfection and made a great shot. He has that ‘it’ factor and down the stretch he made some huge plays. They ran the same play against Purdue and it didn’t work that time but will continue putting the ball in his hands.
+ Wesson is so physical. Ohio State took Daniel Oturu out of the game in the first half. they told him to go have your best second half of the year and flush out he first half. Give Ohio State credit for taking him out of it.
+ The locker room was pretty excited. They have the third most new players in the Big Ten and it doesn’t feel like they are re-building this year, they are right there. They knew they had to breakthrough on the road and they have. This is a great group of guys.
+ To hold Kaleb Wesson 1-for-10 was terrific.
+ The last huddle was like Will Ferrel in Old School screaming nobody freak out.
+ His guys were pretty calm. They’ve been in a lot of close games and haven’t always executed.
+ Ohio State was very physical.
+ They will feel good tonight and get over it but it’s very hard to win in this league and they’ve got some quality wins.
+ They did a better job of defending without fouling in the second half. He told his guys they can’t play in foul trouble and in the first half they were just letting Ohio State get to the line too much. They changed that in the second half and played fundamentally sound.
You can watch the full videos below.
Richard Pitino
C.J. Walker and Kyle Young
Chris Holtmann