The newly minted 25th ranked team in America in the coaches poll, Ohio State welcomed in-state foe Miami to the Schott and were not gracious hosts, pulling away from the overmatched Redhawks, sending them back to Oxford with a 84-64 defeat in front of a sparse crowd, announced at just over 9,000. Ohio State moved to 8-1 with the win, while Miami slipped to 4-4. The Buckeyes built a lead as large as 26, forcing Miami into 17 turnovers and turning them into 25 points to cruise their 7th straight victory. Roddy Gayle led 6 Buckeyes in double figures with 15, while Bruce Thornton added 14. Jamison Battle and Zed key scored 13 each while Key added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Dale Bonner and Evan Mahaffey chopped in 11 and 10 respectively. Miami was led by Darweshi Hunter’s 16. The Buckeyes dominance on this night was evident in their 40-29 rebounding edge, 18 of the offensive variety leading to 25 second chance points en route to a methodical and relatively easy win. 

Each team scored on all three of their opening possessions and Miami’s triple to open the scoring was the difference in the 7-6 Redhawk lead at the first media timeout of the game. Miami extended the lead with a backdoor cut leading to a lay in. Roddy Gayle answered, getting to the rim off the bounce and scoring off the window and after Gayle picked off a pass in the backcourt, he sped down floor for an uncontested dunk to give Ohio State their first lead. A Zed Key dunk capped a 6-0 Buckeye run before a 4-0 Miami run put the Redhawks back in front. A pair of Bruce Thornton free throws put the Buckeyes back ahead and following a Miami turnover, an offensive rebound by Key and kick to Thornton at the head of the key for three extended the Ohio State advantage and at the under 12, the Buckeyes led the Redhawks 17-13. A pick and roll led to Gayle finding Key for a dunk to increase the lead and after a defensive stop, the Buckeyes hit the offensive glass and after several opportunities, Key was fouled sending him to the stripe where he split the pair. Key split another pair of free throws a couple possessions later to increase the Buckeye lead to 8., but a Miami jumper fell to stop the bleeding for the Redhawks. Dale Bonner’s triple from the right wing preceded an offensive rebound and score for Miami. After Devin Royal split a pair of freebies, the under 8 media break hit with Ohio State leading Miami 25-17. Out of the timeout a pair of Gayle free throws and one by Thornton increased the Buckeye lead to 11.  A Miami jumper trimmed the lead back to single digits, but it went back to 11 when Gayle banged down another two free throws. Thornton sped to the rim left of the lane and scored off the window as the Buckeyes were threatening to run away with it and at the under 4, Ohio State led 32-19. A pair of Miami free throws right out of the timeout trimmed the lead briefly before a Thornton trey from deep in the left corner found the bottom. Evan Mahaffey picked up a steal in the Miami front court, raced down the floor and fed Key for a dunk to increase the lead to 16. A 5-0 Redhawk run trimmed the lead to 11, but on the final possession of the half, Battle grabbed an offensive rebound and found Gayle who scored in traffic just above the left block and at the half, Ohio State led 39-26. The Buckeyes held the comfortable lead despite struggling to find an offensive rhythm, hitting on just 38% of their shot attempts, including just 3 of 10 from three, while Miami shot 44%, hitting 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. The Buckeyes lead in large part was due to a 12-5 offensive rebound edge, leading to a 15-4 advantage in second chance points. The Buckeyes also forced 9 Redhawk turnovers, while turning it over just twice themselves.  That advantage led to a 16-0 advantage in points off of turnovers. Bruce Thornton led Ohio State with 11 and Roddy Gayle added 10 to lead Ohio State and Zed Key chipped in 8 points and 7 rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Miami was led by Darweshi Hunter’s 7. 

Miami scored on their opening possession and after Battle hit a runner off the window, a Miami triple cut the lead to 10. After Gayle split a pair of free throws, Miami drilled another jumper to cut the Buckeye lead back to single digits. It wouldn’t be in single digits for long as Battle hit a 15 foot jumper from the left wing. The lead extended when Mahaffey put the ball on the floor from the top and with a strong move got to the rim and layed it in off the window forcing Miami to take a timeout with the Buckeyes leading 46-33. During the timeout, Miami’s coach Travis Steele was T’d up for arguing what he felt was a missed foul call on Ohio State. Battle took the technical foul shots and hit the pair to extend the Buckeye lead. A Miami hoop stopped the 6-0 Buckeye run and at the under 16, Ohio State led 48-35. Thornton got free out of the timeout and drilled a triple from the right wing, but a quick hitter on a backdoor cut got the Redhawks back on the board. Another Miami bucket preceded a corner three by Scotty Middleton and the Buckeyes were back on top 15. After a Miami turnover, the lead increased to 17 when Battle lobbed to Key for a dunk. Miami answered with a quick bucket the other way and then things got chippy causing the officials to call a double technical and at the 12 minute media timeout, Ohio State led 56-41. Out of the timeout, Battle found Gayle at the rim for a lay-in, but a triple the other way kept Miami in the ballgame. Bonner got into the paint off the bounce and lobbed to Battle for a lay-in and after a defensive stop, Gayle penetrated the lane and kicked to Battle on the right wing for three and Ohio State took a timeout leading 63-44. The Buckeye lead increased when Key found Mahaffey on the opposite block and after scoring through contact, Mahaffey completed the old-fashioned three point play by knocking down the free throw. A three point play of their own on the other end allowed the Redhawks to trim the lead back to 19 but Ohio State answered when Royal grabbed an offensive rebound and scored. A Bonner triple and a transition tip dunk by Key expanded the lead to 26. A long three by Miami stopped the Buckeye 7-0 run, but a pair of Bonner free throws fell to put Ohio State back ahead by 25 as Chris Holtmann began subbing. A 5-0 Miami run cut the lead back to 20 and at the final media timeout, it was all Buckeyes, leading 75-55. A pair of Gayle free throws ended the Redhawk run and after Miami made a pair of their own, Royal kicked to Mahaffey in the right corner for three. Two more Miami free throws preceded a Bonner triple, but Miami answered with a three of their own. After Key split a pair of free throws, Miami scored off a Buckeye turnover to complete the scoring for Ohio State’s 7th straight win. 

This one was just about maintaining the momentum the Buckeyes have created over the past couple weeks. Coming between conference games, there was a danger of complacency and despite not shooting it very well in the first half, the intensity on the defensive end and on the glass did not waiver. Ohio State was active on both ends, grabbing nearly every 50/50 ball, forcing turnovers and defending the perimeter. Once their shots started dropping, the rout was on. Coach Holtmann was a little more liberal with his substitutions on this night as well, taking a look at some different combinations and despite not shooting as well as they have for most of the year from long range, hitting just 9 of 23 from out there, the Buckeyes hit the glass and created multiple offensive opportunities. Ohio State had great balance on this night, assisting on 16 of 28 made field goals and getting a lot of guys involved as evidenced by the 6 guys in double figures scoring. While they are still a work in progress, there are a lot of pieces in place to make for a great team and they are in a good place as a team at this point in the season and are playing with a tremendous amount of confidence. The schedule beefs up a bit over the next couple weeks as they get back to Big Ten competition, playing their first true road game on Saturday at Penn State before playing UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic a week from Saturday. 

Ohio State completes the December portion of the Big Ten schedule on Saturday evening in State College, PA, taking on Penn State at 6 PM on BTN. 

Jason Harris