Ohio State’s Jake Diebler: Revenge ‘in the back of my mind’ as Maryland visits

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The chance to earn a quality win and climb back to .500 in Big Ten play is at the forefront of Jake Diebler’s mind.

Thursday night, Ohio State hosts No. 18 Maryland in a rematch of the conference opener for both teams. Two months and two days ago, the Terrapins generally did whatever they wanted, building a 50-17 halftime lead and handing the Buckeyes an 83-59 loss that wasn’t as close as the final margin indicated. Standing outside the locker room at the Xfinity Center on Dec. 4, Diebler vowed that the Buckeyes would not run from the loss but would learn from it and move forward.

For the most part, they’ve done that. Ohio State still had a more lopsided loss ahead, falling to No. 2 Auburn by 38 points only 10 days later, but it hasn’t kept the Buckeyes from playing their way onto the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble – for now, at least. Getting back to March Madness will require Ohio State to navigate the final nine games of Big Ten play and possibly a run in the conference tournament, but with so many games left the focus is solely on the next game, Diebler said Monday.

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Jake Diebler watches the first half at Value City Arena on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.

This one, though, does have a little bit extra to it. Like a chance for a revenge win, maybe?

“Naturally there is (that feeling),” Diebler said. “We’re really a completely different team than we were then, but make no mistake, we haven’t forgotten about that. It’s in the back of my mind (but) I want our guys though focused on this one.”

A win Thursday night would be unlike any in the past 28 years of Ohio State men’s basketball. It’s been since the 1996-97 season that the Buckeyes have lost a game by 24 or more points and then turned around and defeated that same Big Ten team in the same season.

On Jan. 25, 1997, Ohio State took a 78-47 thumping on the road to a Northwestern team that had been 0-6 in league play to that point. It was the biggest…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ohio-states-jake-diebler-revenge-110720265.html

Author : The Columbus Dispatch

Publish date : 2025-02-06 11:07:00

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