There was a collective sigh of relief Sunday at Value City Arena as the final horn sounded finalizing Florida’s 74-66 victory over Ohio State in the second round of the NIT. You couldn’t hear it, of course, but it was Buckeye fans silently celebrating the end of an up-and-down year that they hadn’t seen in quite some time.
Ohio State started the season 2-4 and ended it 21-14, finishing in seventh place in the Big Ten despite winning 11 games in the league. The Buckeyes flashed plenty of signs of their young talent along the way, but also showed plenty of growing pains as well — often within the same game.