Holtmann Not Pleased With Week-Long Break For Ohio State

Although college basketball season may appear to be in full swing, things have ground to a halt for the Ohio State men’s basketball program.

After defeating Rutgers on a controversial buzzer-beater by guard Tanner Holden on Dec. 8, The 23rd-ranked Buckeyes (7-2, 1-0) received an eight-day-long break prior to their next game against North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec. 17. While Ohio State has already seen a prolonged break this season, as the Buckeyes had a week between their game against Texas Tech in the Maui Invitation on Nov. 23 and Duke on Nov. 30, OSU head coach Chris Holtmann said he would have preferred during Big Ten play, as opposed to now.

“If you said, ‘Hey, flip it and let’s do it in January when you have this (break). Sign me up,” Holtmann joked. “I’m all for that, I’d do that in a heartbeat.

“I just don’t prefer it to be right now. I think we’ll need that break come January or February versus right now.”

Although Holtmann welcomed the team getting some extra rest ahead of the Buckeyes’ marquee matchup against the Tar Heels, he noted that he feels that his team needs more in-game reps at this point in the season rather than opportunities to recuperate.

“The challenge is that it’s too big of a gap in the middle of the season,” Holtmann said in regard to the break. “No coach would prefer to have this many days off this early in the season. We really need to be playing games.”

Holtmann noted that the break comes as a result of the Big Ten scheduling just one conference game for the Buckeyes in December, while several other conference teams get a pair of Big Ten games during the month.

While Ohio State was dealt a peculiar hand when it comes to scheduling, Holtmann noted that the Buckeyes will likely hold a live-action internal scrimmage at some point in the week while trying to keep his team in the flow of the season.

“It’s not something we’d necessarily prefer,” Holtmann said. “We need to figure out a way to stay sharp, we’re going to have to do some things in practice.”