Struggling OSU eager to right ship

Ohio State has not lost to Northwestern in Columbus since 1977.

COLUMBUS — Aaron Craft was an all-state quarterback at Liberty-Benton high school, and in many ways thinks more like a Saturday-afternoon star than the point guard for No. 13 Ohio State.

Even though he dropped the sport to focus on basketball as a senior — and still loves to watch football and talk about it — there's one thing about being on the hardcourt instead of the gridiron that really appeals to him.

"Luckily, in basketball we get to play twice in a week," he said on Wednesday. "You don't have to wait a whole week like in football."

There's no question that Ohio State is glad to be returning to action. The Buckeyes have heard enough about the losses last week in overtime at No. 3 Michigan and at home on Sunday to top-ranked Indiana.

After taking a day or two to assess their situation, they're looking forward to their next outing against injury-hampered Northwestern (13-11, 4-7 Big Ten) today at 7 p.m. at Value City Arena.

"I'm just excited to get back out there," Craft said.

Hungry for a win, the opponent couldn't be much better either for the Buckeyes (17-6, 7-4). They haven't lost in Columbus to the Wildcats since Feb. 24, 1977, an 83-72 defeat — a string of 28 consecutive wins at home.

Overall, they've won 17 of the last 18 meetings, regardless of the site.

But aside from the opponent, one of the major objectives for coach Thad Matta and his assistants this week has been working on the Buckeyes' mental health.

Asked if this was a time to try to kick-start his team or console it, Matta said, "It's been a little bit of both."

This has been an interesting past few days for the Buckeyes. They hadn't lost back-to-back games in their last 121 outings until last week.

The three-time defending Big Ten champions (and winners of five of the last seven titles), Ohio State found itself tied for fourth place in the conference and two full games back of the lead when they hit the practice court at the Schottenstein Center on Wednesday.

In the wake of that disappointing 81-68 loss to Indiana at home, the message from the coaching staff has been a simple one.

"Just move forward. Just try not to think about it, put that game in the past. There's nothing you can do about it," center Amir Williams said. "We've got Northwestern [next]. That's the team we have to come prepared for, be ready to play because Northwestern is a dangerous team. We can't dwell too much on the past."