Despite loss, Ohio State shows basketball is back for Buckeye Nation

• Ohio State fell behind Gonzaga 15-0.
• The Buckeyes rallied in the second half and took a five-point lead.
• Over the last six minutes, Gonzaga rolled up 28 points to pull away.
• Gonzaga won 90-84 Saturday night in Boise, Idaho.

It was maddening. It was exasperating. It was frustrating.

But in the end, it was all in a good way.

Ohio State spotted Gonzaga 15 points at the start of Saturday's second round NCAA Tournament West Region game and proceeded to play catch-up over the next 25 minutes.

The Buckeyes did catch the Zags and passed them, holding a five-point lead with six minutes to go after a Keita Bates-Diop 3-pointer dropped.

However, they couldn't hold it as Gonzaga poured in 28 points down the stretch to knock out Ohio State 90-84.

Maddening in its start. Exasperating at winning time. Frustrating in the outcome.

That was Saturday night in Boise, Idaho. But wasn't it grand?

Over the previous two years at Ohio State, the team was truly maddening in the way it loafed and slouched and pouted through games as the bad body language all-stars. They were exceedingly exasperating in how they would make the same mistakes over and over with little focus and attention to detail for stretches. They were incredibly frustrating as they regressed and the losses mounted.

There was the NIT in 2015-16. There was nothing in 2016-17, but a new coach in its future.

That was the backdrop to the 2017-18 season where the expectation was more frustration, exasperation and the like.

Not a person in Buckeye Nation figured to care this much about college basketball in March when the season started. Heck, given truth serum, the Buckeyes themselves had to have doubts, too.

Chris Holtmann, the guy charged with turning the Buckeyes around when he was hired late in the game in June, tried to sum up in the moments after the season-ending loss just how far this group came in less than a year.

"We've evolved as you hope a team has evolved. It's hard when you take over a program and obviously took it over midsummer," Holtmann said. "You're trying to figure them out. They're trying to figure you out. You're also trying to figure out your guys' strengths and what triggers to pull with guys and just what guys you can challenge in what areas. And you're learning their strengths, too, strengths and weaknesses, and how to put them in the best position and I think that took some time for us.

"This group really turned a corner at some point, and I think it was maybe after the PK80 and after the Clemson game. It turned a corner and flipped the switch and we were really never the same. And it was all positive. We just kept growing together. I've been proud of a lot of teams, but this one is up there."

One only needs to use Gonzaga as a marker for the Buckeyes.

When the two met as part of the PK80 in November, Ohio State looked like the same squad that failed to make the postseason the year before during an 86-59 loss to the Zags.

Saturday night in Boise the Buckeyes were less than six minutes away from an upset and a trip to the Sweet 16.

I was really proud of our guys' spirit, competitive spirit," Holtmann said. "It's been that way all year. We've got a special bunch, and it's disappointing to see it end because we have such a special group of guys. We'll leave it at that."

Disappointing. Maddening. Exasperating. Frustrating.

But in a good way. It appears as if big-time basketball is returning to Columbus.

Rob McCurdy covers Ohio State men's basketball for USA Today Network-Ohio and can be reached at rmccurdy@gannett.com, work 740-375-5158, cell 419-610-0998, Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.