When Thad Matta was asked about his young Ohio State team’s game with fourth-ranked Kentucky on Saturday, his answer went a long way toward explaining why he seemed so content with a 67-54 win over Northern Illinois on Wednesday that probably could have won an ugly contest.
“I just want to see growth,” the Buckeyes coach said. “I want to see us play better than we played last Saturday and better than we played tonight.”
When your team is 5-5 after struggling to beat Northern Illinois at home and just a few days removed from absorbing a 20-point beating at Connecticut, it almost goes without saying that this young team is a work in progress.