It was a loss that may have kept the Ohio State men’s basketball team from playing in the NCAA Tournament last season. On November 29, 2024 — almost one year ago exactly — Ohio State squandered a six-point
lead in the final 1:36 of overtime, falling to Pitt at home, 91-90 . It was a deep three-pointer for Zack Austin that won it, created because the Buckeyes over-helped on defense on guard Jaland Lowe.
Despite putting up 90 points and out-shooting Pitt both in shooting percentage and three-point percentage, Ohio State got to watch the Panthers mob Austin on their home court, the night before the Ohio State football team would go on to lose to Michigan for the fourth consecutive season.
Here we are, once again.
After Ohio State trounced Mount St. Mary’s 113-60 on Tuesday, sophomore guard John Mobley Jr., who scored seven points on 2-of-7 shooting off the bench in the Pitt game last year, said that he has not forgotten last year’s battle with the Panthers.
“Can’t wait. We’ve got a bad taste in our mouth from last year, you know how that Pitt game ended, so we’re going in hungry. We’re going to keep our foot on the gas. Can’t wait. Can’t wait. Wow, we can’t wait.
After the 2024 NCAA Tournament Selection Show on March 17, the “First Four Teams Out” were revealed, and Ohio State was one of them, along with West Virginia, Indiana, and Boise State. Their 9-15 record against Quad One and Quad Two teams was noted as a reason they were left out, as well as how close to .500 their record was at 17-15. Something something about horseshoes and hand grenades, but had Ohio State found a way to hang on and win against Pitt last year, their 18-14 record very well may have gotten them into the big dance.
While head coach Jake Diebler is glad that his team is motivated by last year’s loss, he also doesn’t think any motivation needs to be “manufactured” for this game, or any other.
“I don’t think I need to manufacture motivation, I guess I would say. This group is highly motivated to continue to grow and play better each day we’re out there. I’m glad that some guys that were here have a little extra edge because of that, but our focus is preparing as well as we possibly can to go get a road win. And those are really, really hard. So, some guys got some extra motivation? Great. But I don’t think this team needs it.”
Ohio State enters Friday night’s game as 5.5-point favorites over a Pitt team that is coming off a loss to Quinnipiac (No. 176 in KenPom) on Sunday. The Panthers have also suffered double-digit losses to UCF (No. 66) and West Virginia (No. 75). Their second-leading scorer, sophomore guard Brandin Cummings (12.4 PPG), did not play against Quinnipiac due to a “lower body injury” and is considered day-to-day. Things are not well for the Pitt basketball program at the moment.
And yet, the notion that Ohio State could walk into an arena that is foreign to them and win a game handily, leaving no doubt, feels abnormal. Ohio State is 6-15 on the road over the past two seasons. Even if you isolate the record to only teams outside of the top-50 in KenPom, Ohio State is 3-5 during that timeframe.
Remember the double overtime game last year against Minnesota at the barn? How about the heart-stopping win on the road at USC last season, where the two teams were tied 80-80 with 56 remaining at 12:30 a.m. here in the eastern time zone? Road games — road wins, even — have been like pulling teeth for this team lately.
But hey, maybe a little bit of attitude and a dash of spite is exactly what this team needs to go on the road, treat this game like a business trip, and improve to 7-0 for the first time since 2019. According to Diebler, he’s confident the Buckeyes are going to give Jeff Capel’s team their best shot.
“We know they’ve got significant time to prepare for us, and we know that we are going to get their absolute best shot going into their gym. And so we’ve got to return the favor and give them our absolute best shot.”
