The Ohio State men’s basketball team traveled down I-71 to play the University of Cincinnati in the CareSource Charity exhibition raising money for Columbus and Tri-State mental health organizations.  While the night was for a great cause, it didn’t go well for the Buckeyes from the jump. The Bearcats were the aggressor from the outset, never trailing, building a lead as large as 23 before downing the visiting Buckeyes 80-62 at Fifth Third Arena. Ohio State got 11 each from Micah Parrish and Meechie Johnson, while Cincinnati put three in double figures, led by 12 each from Dillon Mitchell and Simas Lukosius and 11 from Day Day Thomas. Ohio State struggled all night shooting the basketball, hitting on just 36% of their shot attempts including 6 of 18 from beyond the arc. By contrast, Cincinnati knocked down 54% that included 10 of 26 from long range. The ‘Cats dominated the glass, out rebounding the Buckeyes 38-21, while each team was sloppy with the basketball, turning it over a total of 38 times combined, with Cincinnati turning it over 21 times compared to 17 by the Buckeyes. 

With presumptive starter at center, Aaron Bradshaw sidelined in concussion protocol, the Buckeyes started the game with a backcourt of Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson and Micah Parrish, while the frontcourt consisted of Evan Mahaffey and Sean Stewart.  Each team went scoreless on their respective opening possessions before a pair of Bearcat free throws got the scoring underway. A Stewart bucket put the Buckeyes on the board and after another pair of Bearcat freebies, Johnson dropped to Stewart for a flush to re-tie the score. After 5 straight Bearcat points, freshman John Mobley, Jr. became the first Buckeye off the bench. A short pull up Thornton jumper stopped the ‘Cat run, but quickly the other way, UC scored at the rim to answer. After a Buckeye miss and UC turnover, the first media timeout of the game was called at the 15:48 mark with Cincinnati holding an early 11-6 lead. Freshman Ivan Njegovan came out of the timeout with his first appearance as a Buckeye along with sophomore Devin Royal and on Ohio State’s first possession, back to back tie-ups gave the ball back to Cincinnati where after an offensive rebound, a triple dropped extending the Bearcat advantage. UC extended their run to 14-2 forcing Coach Jake Diebler to call a timeout with 13:04 remaining in the first half and Cincinnati in command, leading 18-6. Freshman Colin White and transfer guard Ques Glover each entered the game for the first time after the timeout and the Buckeyes got back on the board when Mobley scored with a scoop shot near the rim. UC answered with a triple, but an offensive rebound and score by Royal cut the deficit to 11 at the under 12 minute media timeout with the Bearcats leading the Buckeyes 21-10. Out of the timeout, Austin Parks saw his first action and after Glover bagged a pair of free throws, UC scored the next 5 before a pair of Stewart free throws cut the lead to 26-14. Johnson forced a Bearcat turnover and a Thornton fade away got the Buckeyes a little closer and at the under 8, Cincinnati held a 26-16 lead. The Bearcats increased their lead with a three, but a transition triple off the fingers of Johnson cut the lead back to 10. A Buckeye turnover led to a break and a bucket causing Jake Diebler to call a timeout with 5:16 left in half number 1 and UC leading 31-19. A transition three by UC ballooned the lead to 15 and on the ensuing possession, the Buckeyes threw an errant pass that went out of bounds for their 11th turnover of the half, leading to the final media timeout of the half and the Bearcats in control, leading 34-19. More Bearcats out of the timeout as a dunk increased the lead, but back to back Parrish buckets cut into the lead. A UC three was followed by a rebound and put back by Royal and Cincinnati took a timeout with 2:03 left in the half with Cincinnati leading 39-25. Following a moving screen on the ‘Cats, Stewart went to the stripe where he knocked down the first but grabbed the loose rebound when he missed the second and Parrish drilled a three getting the Buckeyes a little closer. Glover got Ohio State to within 8 when he picked the pocket of a Bearcat and went the other way for two, but a short corner fade away by the Bearcats finished the first half scoring as Cincinnati took a 41-31 lead into the locker room. The Buckeyes hit on just 40% of their first half shot attempts, including just 2 of 8 from long range, while UC hit 50% of their attempts and knocked down 7 of 14 from deep. Each team turned it over a whopping 11 times, while UC dominated the glass, out rebounding Ohio State 18-13. The Buckeyes knocked down 5 of 6 from the stripe, while Cincinnati hit all 4 of their free throws. The Cats, showing their chemistry, with the majority of their team returning, assisted on 10 of their 15 made buckets, while Ohio State had just 3. The Buckeyes, who played all but 1 available scholarship player, were led by 7 each by Micah Parrish and Sean Stewart. Cincinnati was paced by Simas Lukosius’ 10. Cincinnati was clearly the better team in the first 20 minutes, getting almost everything they wanted offensively while hounding the Buckeye ball handlers on the defensive end making things very difficult for Ohio State to get into any of their offensive sets.  

The Bearcats opened the 2nd half scoring the first four before a short Stewart jumper put the Buckeyes back in the scoring column. After a pair of Cincinnati free throws, Thornton split a pair, and at the first media timeout of the second half, the Bearcats held a 47-34 lead. The Bearcats scored the next 6 before a Thornton jumper stopped the bleeding. A Cincinnati triple preceded a Buckeye turnover and the under 12 media timeout with the Bearcats holding their largest lead of the game at 56-36. Out of the timeout, Cincinnati scored the next 7 before Johnson stopped the run with a triple. After another UC bucket, Thornton hit a short jumper and at the under 8, Cincinnati led 65-41. Parrish buried a pair of freebies out of the timeout. After a quick bucket for UC, Johnson answered for Ohio State with a pair of free throws for his 7th and 8th point of the night. Two more Parrish free throws cut into the lead and after a Mahaffey steal, Johnson buried a three getting the Buckeyes a little closer. A UC stopped the Buckeye run with a 7-0 run of their own and at the final media timeout, Cincinnati led 74-51. Kalen Etzler entered the game for the first time out of the timeout and the Buckeyes got 3 points closer when 7’1” Ivan Njegovan dropped in a three. After a dunk the other way, Mobley drilled his first three of his college career. A pair of Mobley free throws cut the lead to 17 but with just over 1:30 to play. A Cincinnati tip in preceded a pair of Etzler free throws with a minute to play. A Njegovan block led to a Cincinnati foul sending Glover to the stripe where he split the pair and Cincinnati scored on the other end to complete the scoring in Cincinnati’s commanding victory. 

While it was just an exhibition game and Ohio State subbed extremely liberally with minute caps on many guys, the Buckeyes had to come out of this game with a lot of concerns on both ends of the floor. Clearly Cincinnati had an advantage coming in having returned most of their roster from a year ago, but things just came much too easy for the home team. Ohio State struggled all night with their defensive rotations as Cincinnati exposed some clear early season deficiencies. Cincinnati was very comfortable offensively from the moment the game tipped, getting any shot they wanted and crashed the glass with extreme efficiency. On the other end, the Bearcats were the aggressor all night long making nothing easy for Ohio State and when they were able to get an open look, they could not take advantage, struggling from all over the floor to knock down shots and when it appeared they had a lane to the basket, Cincinnati closed out quickly challenging, deflecting and altering almost every Buckeye shot attempt. The Bearcats chemistry was evident all night long, assisting on 20 of their 32 made buckets with Ohio State only totalling 8 assists all night long. At the end of the day, it was a good test for Ohio State to play an exhibition against a very good Cincinnati team, ranked #20 in the AP and while you can’t garner a whole lot from an exhibition where a lot of different combinations was used, there are some early concerns that will hopefully be addressed over the next couple weeks. Clearly Ohio State will be better for playing this game and they got exactly what Coach Diebler wanted by playing an exhibition in a hostile environment, but on this night, the lack of cohesiveness and chemistry for a group that has many new faces was obvious. There is still a whole lot of talent on this roster and the expectations are high despite tonight not being a great night. Additionally, missing Aaron Bradshaw was a glaring hole so there is no doubt there will be better nights ahead and the good news is they will have good film to analyze and get back to work to improve for the opener in 17 days. 

After a closed scrimmage with Ohio on October 27, the Buckeyes tip it for real on November 4 in Las Vegas taking on 19th ranked Texas in the Hall of Fame Series.  That game is scheduled for a 10 PM Eastern tip and airing on TNT.

-Jason Harris