Chris Holtmann remains 'confident' he can get Ohio State over NCAA Tournament hump

Ohio State has been mostly good under head coach Chris Holtmann. Unfortunately, a deep run in March Madness has not materialized under his watch.

On Sunday afternoon, the Buckeyes were bounced from the NCAA Tournament by 2-seed Villanova. After mounting a valiant comeback in the second half, Ohio State ran out of steam and will miss the Sweet 16.

Ohio State last made the Sweet 16 in 2015 under then-head coach Thad Matta. In 4 NCAA Tournaments with Holtmann, the Buckeyes have yet to advance past the first weekend of March Madness, including a first-round upset at the hand of 15-seed Oral Roberts in 2021.

After Sunday’s loss, Holtmann addressed failing to get over the tournament hump with the Buckeyes. He remains confident that he can get Ohio State to the ultimate goal, as long as the Buckeyes keep getting in the big dance.

Holtmann also admitted some key injuries played a role in the end of Ohio State’s season:

#Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann: “Listen, it’s hard to win in this tournament. We’ve had four opportunities and we’ve performed pretty well in three of them. I believe in what we’re doing, I’m more than confident it will happen.”

— Adam Jardy (@AdamJardy) March 20, 2022

On what Ohio State has to do to get over the hump of the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Holtmann says the Buckeyes need to just “keep getting here.”

— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) March 20, 2022

Holtmann says injuries played “a major role” in the season that Ohio State had, but says he was happy with the team’s effort this past week for the most part.

— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) March 20, 2022