Buckeyes Dominate Chaminade in Exhibition Win

In the first public look at Team 124, Ohio State in front of a crowd of dozens, took control late in the first half and cruised to a 101-57 win over Division II Chaminade in the Schott. The Buckeyes returned three players from a season ago and were without two. Justice Sueing, who missed the majority of last season, sat this one out with a sprained ankle and Eugene Brown III is out in concussion protocol, leaving Zed Key as the lone returner who played a year ago to see minutes in this ballgame. Both Seuing and Brown are expected to be ready to go for the opener on Monday evening, but the newcomers did not disappoint. One of those newcomers, Wright State transfer Tanner Holden exploded for 25 points on 10-12 shooting to lead all scorers. Zed Key chipped in 15 along with 5 rebounds in just 16 minutes, while freshmen Roddy Gayle and Bowen Hardman added 14 and 12 respectively. Oklahoma State transfer Ice Likekele added 10. In addition, freshman point guard Bruce Thornton established himself as a floor general, dishing out 11 assists and committed just 2 turnovers while fellow freshman, 6’11” center, Felix Okpara, added 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and 4 points in 20 minutes of action. Another freshman, Bryce Sensabaugh also added 8 points and 8 rebounds in 24 minutes.

The Buckeye starting lineup, which is still likely in flux, especially with the addition of Sueing, saw Bruce Thornton at the 1, Sean McNeil at the 2, Brice Sensabaugh, 3, Ice Likekele 4, Zed Key, 5.  The Buckeyes opened with back to back Key turnovers and the Silver Swords drilled a triple to take an early 3-0 lead. Key scored at the rim to get the Buckeyes on the board and when Key tipped in a Likekele miss in transition, Ohio State grabbed their first lead. Chaminade went back ahead a point before a Likekele bucket from the right block and a Thornton triple from the right wing in transition fell, forcing Chaminade to take a quick timeout with Ohio State leading 8-5. Coming out of the media break, a Key bucket in transition, a Likekele old-fashioned three point play preceded a Chaminade three and a short jumper and the Buckeyes led 13-10. The Buckeyes had several opportunities to expand the lead, but they couldn’t buy a bucket on several trips and Chaminade cut it to one before a Likekele bucket in the paint put Ohio State up 4 and Chris Holtmann took a timeout with 11:11 remaining in the first 20 minutes. A Chaminade triple cut the lead to one before Tanner Holden buried a three from the right wing. The Buckeyes extended the lead when Key buried a jump hook mid-paint and split a pair of free throws putting the Buckeyes up 22-15. A Chaminade triple cut the lead to four, but Holden took the basketball off the bounce and hit a floater right of the lane, putting Ohio State up 24-18 at the under 8 minute media timeout. Out of the timeout, Holden went right to the bucket, drew a foul and split the freebies to put Ohio State up 6. A pair of Chaminade free throws cut the lead to 4, but Thornton found Roddy Gayle at the top for three and Ohio State was up 7. A triple and a pair of free throws by Holden put the Buckeyes up 11.The lead extended when Gayle found Holden at the left block for a lay-in and a left handed jump hook from Felix Okpara put the Buckeyes up 15. An Okpara block, getting way off the floor to do so, led to  a Sensabaugh jumper put Ohio State up 38-21 and Chaminade wanted to talk about it at the 4:08 mark of the first half and the Buckeyes firmly in command. A Chaminade bucket stopped the Buckeye 13-0 run. A pair of transition lay ins off the bounce for Holden, and a Thornton steal and kick out to Holden for a dunk and the Buckeyes were rolling. Thornton found Key in the paint for two to finish the scoring for the half and the Buckeyes led Chaminade 46-23 at the break. Ohio State started slow but caught fire in the latter part of the first half to shoot 51.4% from the floor, including 3 of 7 from deep and held Chaminade to just 21%. Tanner Holden, came off the bench to pace the Buckeyes with a game high 19 points, while Zed Key chipped in 11 and Bruce Thornton dished out 5 first half assists. 

An 8-4 start to the second half for Ohio State put the Buckeyes up 27 thanks to a transition Sensabaugh dunk and a three apiece for McNeil and Likekele, but an easy Chaminade bucket caused Chris Holtmann to call timeout to talk about his team’s defensive effort to start the half. McNeil drilled another triple out of the timeout and Ohio State was up 28. A pair of transition buckets by Key ballooned the lead to 32 with just a little over 15 minutes to play. Okpara scored on a put back before Chaminade hit a triple. A Gayle bucket and a Holden dunk in transition preceded another Chaminade three before Ohio State turned it on once again. Gayle came up with a steal and score which was followed by a Holden baseline spin and score and finally a baseline triple by McNeil on a feed from Holden who penetrated the lane and kicked out, and the Silver Swords called a timeout with 11:23 to play and the Buckeyes up 74-35. Coach Holtmann began emptying his bench as redshirt freshman Kalen Etzler made his way on the floor along with walk-on Owen Spencer. A Chaminade bucket at the rim cut the lead to 37 before a Gayle triple from the right point fell and Ohio State led by 40. A pair of Silver Sword free throws and Ohio State answered again. Freshman Bowen Hardman, who just entered the ballgame found the bottom of the net from the right corner for three, but six straight Chaminade points trimmed the lead to 35 at the under 8 media timeout.  A Chaminade free throw was followed by another Hardman triple and after another Chaminade hoop, Sensabaugh got to the rim for a deuce. Chaminade scored again and once again, Hardman answered with a triple to put Ohio State up 88-50. Holden grabbed a rebound and drilled a short jumper mid-paint to put the Buckeyes back ahead by 40 before a Chaminade jumper fell. Gayle got to the rim off the bounce for a score and a pair of Sensabaugh freebies put Ohio State up 42. The lead extended to 44 when Sensabaugh kicked to Gayle in transition for a dunk, but got hit with a tech for hanging on the rim, which didn’t look egregious at all yet it got called. After the technical free throw was missed, Ohio State sat back in a 2-3 zone and after Chaminade missed a jumper, Hardman bagged another triple from the left corner and at the final media timeout, Ohio State led 99-52. Chaminade converted an easy bucket due to a defensive disconnect on an inbounds pass from under the rim and on the next possession, split a pair of free throws to cut it to 99-55. Walk-on Colby Bauman spun and got to the rim to put the Buckeyes over the century mark and leading 101-55. A Chaminade bucket would be all the scoring in the last minute plus as Ohio State finished their lone exhibition game of the season, winning 101-57. The Buckeyes shot the basketball at a 59.5% clip for the night, including 12 of 23 from deep and assisted on 24 of their 41 made field goals. They held the Silver Swords to just 27.6% from the floor, which included an abysmal 6-33 from beyond the arc. 

A good start for the Buckeye basketball team.  They did what they should do against a clearly less talented basketball team.  While it took awhile to get comfortable, once they did, they were sure fun to watch. They talked all offseason about wanting to push the tempo and get out in transition and that’s absolutely what they did on this night. They played fast and controlled, while creating offense from their defense. Coach Chris Holtmann substituted liberally throughout which is typical in these types of exhibitions as he looked at different combinations to see what lineups worked best but the depth and talent was evident, despite at times the freshmen looking like freshmen. They shared the ball well and played with tremendous effort according to Coach Holtmann, however he was not happy with the rebounding, outrebounded by Chaminade 41-40, and getting back in transition. They are certainly a work in progress, but it is nearly an entirely new roster and it’s just November 1st, although there is certainly a lot to be excited about for this group.

The Buckeyes tip it up for real on Monday evening, hosting Robert Morris in the Schott. Tip time is scheduled for 7 PM, airing on BTN+

-Jason Harris