A buttoned-up, Ohio State polo shirt-wearing, bespectacled Chris Holtmann started banging both of his fists on the table in front of him to emphasize every single word coming out of his mouth.
“The thing in this league right now is if you get off of growing and getting better every day, you get beat,” Holtmann said. “I feel like I'm talking to my team right here, so I apologize for the enthusiasm.”
He had every reason to feel enthused inside the State Farm Center on Saturday afternoon. His Ohio State team had just traveled to Champaign, Illinois, and handed the preseason pick to capture the Big Ten championship an 87-81 loss on its own home court.