Updated

After 18 grueling conference games — and before the one-then-done pressure of the NCAA's big dance — Ohio State coach Thad Matta tells his players to just go out and have fun in the Big Ten tournament.

To be clear, he didn't say it would be fun, but just to try to have some.

The 10th-ranked Buckeyes don't have a lot to prove when they head to Chicago for what figures to be a wild tournament on the heels of a wild Big Ten race. But Matta wants his players to "maintain" — play at the same level they have through the season while building momentum to take into the bigger tournament which starts next week.

Now, if they were to win the Big Ten tournament trophy, all the better.