COLUMBUS – No. 13 Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann, Justice Sueing, and E.J. Liddell met with the media following the Buckeyes’ 83-79 win against Penn State in Columbus on Wednesday night.
Here are the highlights of what was said immediately following the game.
Chris Holtmann
+ Penn State is an excellent team.
“I thought our guys really gutted it out.”
+ It was a really upbeat locker room.
+ “Our guys really finished the game in a really good way.”
+ It was a tightly called game and a lot of fouls. It impacted whaat their rotation looked like. They weren’t connected enough defensively. They are still working through implementing different players.
+ On the two turnovers before the half, Holtmann says it was his fault, he put them in a bad spot.
+ Bottom line is that they fouled too much but Penn State made some really good shots.
+ They’ll do things better and move forward, but he wants them to enjoy the win. “To finish the game the way they did, I’m really proud of them. As coaches we’ll figure out how we can do better.” Holtmann thinks his team knows how hard it is to win and that they should enjoy these wins.
+ He is proud of the way Justice Sueing has improved. They knew his adjustment would take time but he made big plays in this game. His activity across the game was big for them.
+ They had a lot of guys talking in the huddle. The leaders, Holtmann said it’s their team. “In those moments you want to hear players voices and we heard them.”
+ Washington Jr.’s shooting hasn’t been where they needed it to be but he’s commanding an enormous amount of attention. He made some incredibly good decisions, his ball handling has been good, they are going to find more openings for him, and has to be a bit more patient but he’s finding ways to impact the game.
+ He should have pulled Kyle Young and C.J. Walker earlier to prevent them from fouling out. “That was my fault. I should have pulled them out.”
+ He thought Musa [Jallow] was tremendous. He really made it difficult for Penn State’s Seth Lundy late.
Justice Sueing
+ They knew Penn State could get going fast.
+ “We have to defend our home court.”
+ They are trying to get the momentum going again after the Purdue loss.
+ On the 17 turnovers, they knew Penn State led the Big Ten in steals and play aggressive. “Unfortunately, we let them turn us over too much.” They will get to film and clean it up.
+ On closing the first half, “that’s just unacceptable.” That’s what gave them the boost coming into the second half. They will have to make tweaks before facing Michigan State on Sunday.
+ On his game, he is the most proud of his versatility. He is being persistent to grow and adjust to Big Ten play.
+ “It’s hard to win in the Ten. It’s hard to win in college basketball. Period.”
+ The bench played a huge role.
E.J. Liddell
+ They stayed together to close the game. The seniors, the leaders were very vocal.
+ On the free throws, Liddell said he was emphasizing that it was winning time. “There was no better feeling to get up there and ice the game for the team.”
+ On the high number of turnovers, Liddell said they weren’t surprised because they were working on it but they needed to execute better.
+ Musa Jallow had some big minutes. “He played great defense and helped us win this game. I can’t thank Musa more for that.”
+ The team was excited. “Wining is not easy – at all” Every Big Ten team comes in aggressive.
+ ” I had three turnovers I need to do better on that end.”
+ He felt he was more of a vocal leader in this game and he made himself more available.
+ On their transition defense, Liddell said there’s a lot of room for improvement. But they did a decent job tonight.
+ C.J. Walker asked him before the game if he can go 100 from the line in this game. He told Walker that he’s got him.
+ He was happy Justice Sueing got 10 rebounds and said that helped a lot.
+ Penn State had a lot of good scorers.
[Photo via Ohio State Hoops Twitter.]
