Ohio State basketball takes unnecessary victory after one tournament win

The Ohio State basketball program surprisingly won an NCCAA tournament game and players weren’t shy about taking a victory lap.

The Ohio State basketball season is officially over, following the Buckeyes’ 74-59 loss to No. 3 Houston in the round of 32 Sunday night.

The biggest takeaway emanating from the Buckeyes postgame locker room is that the team “did something.”

If going one-and-done in the NCAA tournament is doing something for a program like Ohio State, then let the party begin…

From freshman guard Luther Muhammed:

"“No one thought we was going to be in the Dance..No one thought we was going to play the way we did at the beginning of the season. Everyone just thought we were just going to be a regular old NIT team, and we proved everyone wrong.”"

Did they really prove anyone wrong? Luther, this is Ohio State. Yes, there have been plenty of haters, but taking a victory lap after going one-and-done in the NCAA tournament is a bad look. While Ohio State may be a football school, the basketball program is no slouch. Final Fours matter. The Round of 32 doesn’t.

From center Kaleb Wesson…

"“They done counted us out since November.”"

That’s right. Everyone did. I don’t know why a win over a No. 6 seeded Iowa State team exonerates this group. The truth is the Buckeyes were lucky to make the tournament, because as Mohammed pointed out, they sure looked like a “regular old NIT” team. The Scarlet and Gray were even luckier a spot in the “play-in game” wasn’t waiting for them in Dayton.

Senior Keyshawn Woods

"“Nobody expected us to go 12-1 out of conference. Everybody thought this was going to be a down year for us. Everybody thought we was an NIT team or not in the tournament at all. And to be honest, with the young group of guys that we had and the situation that we was in, I feel like we proved a lot of people wrong.”"

There were four non-conference games that were worth paying attention to and the Buckeyes went 2-2 in those contests. Count wins against Cincinnati and Iowa State. Losses include Syracuse and then Houston.

And don’t try to convince me the UCLA win matters. The Bruins were awful and are looking for a new coach.

Otherwise, when it comes to out-of-conference player, it’s just hard to get worked up over beating Cleveland State, Creighton and Purdue Fort-Wayne.

I didn’t intend to pile on the Buckeyes, I just think the storyline being floated around so far that the Bucks overcame some kind of adversity fits. The truth is this team went 20-15 and was 8-12 in the Big Ten…and that’s OK. Expectations were low entering the season.

Coach Chris Holtmann will welcome back five freshman, including Justin Ahrens, as well as a few sophomores led by Kaleb Wesson into the mix next season. Holtmann will also welcome in the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the Big Ten, according to 247 Sports.

Wesson was the Buckeyes best player this season, who made headlines toward the end of the regular-season when he was suspended by Holtmann. It’s yet to come out as to why Wesson was left behind. Wesson averaged 14.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

• Senior C.J. Jackson scored his 1,000th point during the loss. He’s the 52nd Buckeye to accomplish the fete.