When the Ohio State men’s basketball team opens Friday night against Navy, don’t be surprised if the Buckeyes take the court wearing those smiley-face emoji masks that are showing up at costume parties.
From March through now, coach Thad Matta and his players understandably have been putting a happy face on the program; the alternative is to hide behind a much less flattering emoji. Let your imagination run.
The Buckeyes went 21-14 last season and finished in seventh place (11-7) in the Big Ten. They missed making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008, and things took a troubling turn when freshmen A.