Throughout the year, Land-Grant Holy Land will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences, but also from individual interview sessions.

After Ohio State’s 88-83 win over Cornell in the opening round of the NIT, we spoke to Jamison Battle, Roddy Gayle, and new head coach Jake Diebler about the win, how they prepared, and how they came to the decision to accept an invitation to this tournament.

Battle and Gayle spoke first. Battle talked about how there are four post-season tournaments, so four teams get to finish the season with a win. He wants Ohio State to be one of those four teams. Gayle added that he’s not ready “To be done with this family yet.” They also said that the way Cornell plays reminded them a lot of Miami of Ohio, who Ohio State beat 84-64 on December 6.

Diebler said that it was important to get his team some experience in the post-season — in “win or go home” basketball. He thought Battle’s three with 43 seconds left that gave Ohio State the lead was a “big time” shot, and gave his team credit for staying composed despite one Cornell player who was continuously trying to egg them on, and was eventually T’d up.

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