The basketball Buckeyes completed the non-conference portion of the regular season schedule, and despite struggling to close the game, survived West Virginia 78-75 in overtime in the Legends of Basketball Showcase held in Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Arena. The win lifts Ohio State to an 11-2 overall mark, while the loss dropped the Mountaineers to 5-8. Roddy Gayle led Ohio State with a career high 32 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 6 assists on a night where his backcourt mate Bruce Thornton struggled to a 4 of 12 night shooting before fouling out in the final seconds with 11 points, 6 coming in overtime. Jamison Battle got hot in the second half and finished with 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting from downtown and added 9 rebounds. West Virginia was led by 24 from RaeQuan Battle and 19 from Noah Farrakhan. The Buckeyes really struggled shooting it on this night, hitting just 36% from the floor, but did catch a little fire from 3, rebounding from a tough start, to hit 11 of 34 for 32%. West Virginia knocked down 43% overall and just 5 of 22 from long range. As has become the norm, Ohio State assisted on over 50% of their made field goals, dishing out 15 of their 26 made shots and despite uncharacteristically making just 15 of 25 free throws, they found a way to get the win. 

The Mountaineers opened the scoring with a long triple from the top but a transition triple by Roddy Gayle following a WVU miss knotted the early score. The Buckeyes grabbed the lead when Gayle got into the lane off the dribble drive and with a reverse pivot, bagged a short jumper. The Mountaineers deadlocked the score, knifing through the Buckeye D for a lay-in, but quickly the other way, Scotty Middleton lobbed to Felix Okpara for a lay-in to put Ohio State back in front. The Buckeyes extended the lead when Evan Mahaffey kicked out to Bruce Thornton who buried a three from the right wing and on the ensuing WVU  in-bounds pass, Gayle grabbed a steal and flushed it home and at the first media timeout, Ohio State led 12-5 and on a 7-0 run. Ohio State upped the scoring run to 9 straight when Middleton penetrated and after a jump stop, left it for Zed Key for a jam. WVU stopped the run splitting a pair of free throws, but Jamison Battle hit a short floater right of the lane and at the under 12 media timeout, Ohio State led 16-6. The Mountaineers got back on the board, scoring off a long rebound of a Buckeye miss and cherry picking the other way a dunk ended a nearly 7 minute field goal drought. The Buckeyes answered the other grabbing multiple offensive rebounds with the final one grabbed by Okpara, who went back up and scored. After a defensive stop, Okpara went to the stripe on the other end and knocked them both down to increase the lead. After the Mountaineers hit a 15 footer, Evan Mahaffey got to the stripe and made both and after a defensive stop, Gayle hit a fade away at the stripe. WVU got to the rim and scored on their next possession, getting fouled as well and with the Mountaineers due to go to the stripe, the teams hit their benches for the under 8 timeout with the Buckeyes leading 24-12. Out of the timeout, the free throw dropped to complete the old-fashioned three point play and with the Buckeyes going ice cold from the floor facing a Mountaineer zone they were having trouble solving. WVU took advantage,  scoring five more to cut the lead to 7 and at the under 4 media timeout, the Mountaineers were on a 7-0 run and sliced the lead to 24-17. Out of the timeout, two WVU free throws increased the run and after yet another Buckeye miss, a tip dunk by West Virginia pulled the Mountaineers to within 3. Key stopped the run at 11 with a pair of free throws ending a nearly 6 minute Buckeye scoring drought, but a pair of free throws on the other end cut the lead back to 3. After another Buckeye miss, WVU completely erased the 14 point deficit, drilling a three to tie it. Ohio State answered to go back ahead when Thornton split the zone and got to the rim for a lay in left of the rim ending a streak of 11 straight missed shots for the Buckeyes. West Virginia held for the last shot and a wild, desperation three from the top missed everything and the halftime horn sounded with Ohio State taking a 28-26 lead into the locker room despite only making one field goal in the last 9:18. The Mountaineers finished the half on a 16-4 run as the Buckeyes struggled mightily against the matchup zone, hitting just 27% from the floor, including an awful 2 of 15 from deep. West Virginia didn’t shoot it much better, making good on just 32% of their shot attempts, with just 2 of 8 dropping from beyond the arc. The Buckeyes ruled the glass, out rebounding West Virginia 27-19, including 12 of the offensive variety, leading to an 8-2 advantage in 2nd chance points and while the Buckeyes led for over 17 minutes, their once comfortable lead sat at just 2 at the break. Roddy Gayle led the Buckeyes with 9 points and 5 rebounds, while Quinn Slazinski led West Virginia with 9. 

The Buckeyes offense came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, opening the second half scoring with Gayle knifing through the zone and hitting a runner mid lane. After West Virginia answered with a two of their own, the Buckeyes came right back as Battle drilled a three from the right wing. WVU quickly hit a jumper of their own, but in transition Battle drilled another three, this time from the left point and the Buckeyes were up 6. A Gayle dribble drive and floater increased the lead and after forcing a Mountaineer turnover, Gayle found Okpara for a bucket at the rim and Ohio State led by 10. A WVU triple from the top stopped the run and at the under 16, Ohio State led 40-33. After a WVU bucket cut the lead to 5, Gayle knocked down a pair of free throws to put the Buckeyes back in front by 7. A transition old-fashioned three point play by West Virginia cut the lead to 4 and at the under 12, Ohio State led 42-38. Out of the timeout, WVU cut the lead to 2 with a fade away jumper, but after a WVU turnover, Gayle got to the rim in transition and scored off the window. An offensive foul on the Mountaineer possession gave the ball back to Ohio State and they took advantage as Gayle drilled a three from the right wing after an offensive rebound created another opportunity. WVU scored on their possession, but Gayle drove to the right baseline and pitched to Scotty Middleton in the left corner for three. WVU answered with five straight but Battle stopped the run. drilling a long three from the right point and Chris Holtmann called a quick timeout with the Buckeyes leading 53-47 and 8:24 left in the game. The Mountaineers scored quickly out of the timeout, but on the other end, Gayle was fouled attempting a three from the left corner putting him on the stripe where following the under 8 media timeout, he knocked down all three to put the Buckeyes up 7. After a defensive stop, Gayle drove into the paint and scored with a runner. WVU scored in the lane to answer and after Thornton missed a front end of a one and one, WVU executed a pretty alley oop for a dunk. Ohio State bumped the lead to 8 when Thornton fed Battle for three on the right wing. WVU answered again, scoring the next 5 to trim the lead back to 3 and as Ohio State went cold again from the floor, West Virginia called a timeout with 3:35 to play trailing Ohio State 61-58. The Buckeyes increased their lead when Gayle drove the left side and used an Okpara screen for a dunk. A WVU triple answered and cut the lead back to 2, but two Gayle free throws on the other end bumped the lead back to 4. After a defensive stop, Chris Holtmann took a 30 second timeout with 1:42 remaining and the Buckeyes leading 65-61. Ohio State couldn’t convert out of the timeout, but WVU did, scoring after an offensive rebound to trim the lead to 2 with a minute to play. Battle’s triple attempt from the left wing went halfway down and popped out and the rebound went out of bounds off of Okpara giving the ball back to the Mountaineers with 42 seconds left on the game clock. WVU scored with a give and go to tie the game and Ohio State took a timeout in the front court with 18 seconds on the game and shot clock. Gayle took an isolation from the top left and drove to the right of the lane but fumbled the ball and his turnaround was contested and clanked off the rim sending the game to overtime as the Mountaineers outscored Ohio State 12-4 over the final 5 minutes of regulation. 

On Ohio State’s first possession of overtime, Gayle fed Battle for three on the left wing and after a defensive stop each way, WVU tipped in a miss to cut the lead to 1. Gayle continued his hot night, drilling a three from the right point, but a tip in on the other end trimmed the lead to 2. Thornton answered the other way, driving baseline and scoring on the reverse lay-in and Ohio State took a timeout with 2:35 to play in overtime leading 73-69. West Virginia hit a jumper out of the timeout to cut the lead to 2 but Gayle found Thornton for three on the right wing to answer. Thornton took a pass away on the other end and got fouled putting him at the stripe where he made the first and missed the second, but Mahaffey grabbed the offensive rebound and Chris Holtmann took a timeout with 1:59 to play and the Buckeyes leading 77-71. A turnover gave the ball back to West Virginia and the Mountaineers got to the stripe and hit the pair to cut the lead to 4 with 1:39 to play. Key got to the stripe on the ensuing possession where he split the pair. WVU missed a three attempt and a technical foul was called on the West Virginia bench, arguing what they thought was a foul on the other end. Gayle went to the stripe to attempt the technical free throws and he missed them both and Ohio State turned it over leading to a dunk the other way. Mahaffey grabbed a huge offensive rebound of a Gayle miss and was fouled with 19 seconds to play sending him to the stripe following a West Virginia timeout and the Buckeyes leading 78-75. Mahaffey missed both and WVU grabbed the rebound and with 8 seconds to play, Thornton fouled, his 5th and final, sending the Mountaineers to the stripe where the front end missed and Battle grabbed the rebound and passed to Gayle at the 28 foot line and Gayle raced down the floor to run out the clock to allow Ohio State to escape with the win. 

Wow! It wasn’t necessarily the prettiest night of basketball for Ohio State against a pesky West Virginia team that is just now coming together with several players just recently gaining eligibility due to transfer rules, but they found a way and that’s what good teams do in a long season. Ohio State started the game very well, building a comfortable 14 point lead before West Virginia finished the half on a flurry, switching to a matchup zone that confounded the Buckeyes for the latter part of the half allowing the Mountaineers to tie it before ultimately heading to the locker room with a two point Buckeye lead. It was a tough night shooting for much of the night for the Buckeyes especially Bruce Thornton, but as has been said before, there are multiple scoring options on this team and tonight it was Roddy Gayle and Jamison Battle carrying the load and Gayle in particular took over in all facets of the game and finished with a near triple double. Missing 5 straight free throws down the stretch of overtime made for some tense moments in the final seconds, but big rebounds by Evan Mahaffey allowed Ohio State to finish this one off.  That will finish 2023 and an 11-2 record isn’t bad at all, but now the grind of the Big Ten schedule lies ahead which will present all new challenges for this team but they are well prepared and will look to make some noise come January.  Happy New Year Buckeye fans!

Ohio State takes the floor again on Wednesday evening, hosting Rutgers at the Schott for a 7PM scheduled tip airing on BTN. 

-Jason Harris