Ohio State got off to a slow offensive start, but a late first half 16-2 run broke open a close game and the Buckeyes ran away in the second half to blow out visiting Evansville 80-30 The Buckeyes utilized a 52-16 second half to run away from the overmatched visitors, dominating in every facet to move to 3-1, while dropping Evansville to 1-4. A career night from Devin Royal paced the Buckeyes, scoring a career high 20 and adding a career high 12 rebounds for a double-double. Meechie Johnson added 13 points, while John Mobley, Jr. chipped in 11. Sean Stewart added 9 rebounds before leaving early in the 2nd half with an injury. A challenging offensive night for Evansville, who were led by Gabriel Pozzato’s 8. The Buckeyes bounced back from a tough shooting first half to finish 52% from the floor, with 7 of 21 falling from beyond the arc, while the defense locked Evansville down to just 19% shooting, including just 3 of 27 from long range. The Buckeyes assisted on 15 of those 28 made field goals and dominated the glass, out rebounding the Purple Aces 48-28.
Offense was at a premium in the early going as the teams exchanged free throws for the only scoring through nearly 5 minutes when Evansville broke the ice with a three. Ohio State answered quickly with a Meechie Johnson three and at the first media timeout, the score was deadlocked at 5 as both squads had only made 1 out of their first 6 shot attempts. The Purple Aces grabbed a 3 point lead, hitting one of two free throws out of the timeout and adding a reverse lay in on the next possession. A Devin Royal runner in the middle of the paint cut the lead to 1 and at the under 12 media timeout, Ohio State’s offensive woes continued as Evansville led 8-7. The Purple Aces extended their lead, splitting a pair of free throws, but a pair of Bruce Thonrton free throws tied it and John Mobley, Jr. knifed through the lane in transition to put the Buckeyes back in front and at the under 8, Ohio State led 11-9. Evan Mahaffey split a pair of free throws to put the Buckeyes up 3, but a Purple Ace triple re-tied the game. Buckets by Mobley and Royal put Ohio State up 4 and after an Evansville two, Mobley hit a corner three to extend the lead. After a defensive stop, Ohio State raced up the floor and Thornton lobbed to Aaron Bradshaw for a dunk forcing Evansville to take a 30 second timeout with Ohio State on a 9-2 run and leading 21-14. Ohio State’s defense locked the Aces down and offensively the damage for the Buckeyes was done at the stripe, extending the lead. 6 free throws by Royal and 1 by Thornton finished the first half scoring with the Buckeyes doubling up Evansville 28-14 after 20 minutes.
Ohio State held the Purple Aces scoreless for the final 5:51 to take control despite having an extremely tough half offensively from the field. Ohio State hit just 7 of 24 shots overall (29.2%) and 2 of 11 from three point range. As bad as Ohio State was shooting the basketball, Evansville was a whole lot worse, hitting just 4 of 31 shots, good for just 13% and 2 of 17 from deep. Ohio State did most of their damage at the free throw line, knocking down 12 of 17. The Buckeyes out rebounded the Purple Aces 25-19, with a 22-15 advantage on the defensive glass. Devin Royal led all scorers in the first half with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Evansville was paced by 5 points from Michael Day.
Evansville opened the second half scoring with a bucket benefitting from a goal tending call on Bradshaw. Micah Parrish took over for Ohio State, scoring three consecutive buckets around one for the Aces, extending the Buckeye advantage. A pair of Evansville buckets sandwiched around a Thornton turn around 12 footer cut into the margin but a Johnson triple from the left corner preceded the under 16 minute media timeout with Ohio State leading 39-22. More Buckeyes out of the timeout, when in transition, Johnson lobbed to Bradshaw for a powerful, one handed dunk bringing the home fans to their feet. Mobley made 2 of 3 free throws after getting hit attempting a three and after an Evansville bucket, Johnson bounced in a long three from the right wing that hit the front iron, went high off the board and fell through. After another Ace bucket, a Mahaffey dunk after a Colin White offensive rebound kept the possession alive was the last score prior to the under 12 media timeout with Ohio State leading 48-24.The Buckeyes added on following the timeout as a pair of Royal buckets the latter off a nifty interior bounce pass from Johnson, forced Evansville to call a timeout with 9:30 left in the game and Ohio State leading 52-24. Evansville got back on the board with a triple out of the timeout, but on the other end Mahaffey drove the lane and kicked to the left corner where White scored his first collegiate basket, hitting the jumper beyond the arc. After an Ace miss, Ohio State got out in transition and Thornton found Royal on the left block for a score off the window prior to the under 8 media timeout with Ohio State leading 57-27. The Buckeyes played add on after the timeout. Royal went off the bounce along the left baseline and finished with a dunk and after a defensive stop, White again found the bottom for three, this time from the right corner. A short Thornton jumper and a Johnson scoop and score extended the run before an Evansville two stopped the 14-0 Ohio State run. After Thornton split a pair of free throws, Johnson picked the pocket of the Evansville guard and took it the other way for two and with 4:04 to play, the final media timeout was called with the Buckeyes all over the Purple Aces, 69-29. The Buckeyes continued to add on out of the timeout. Royal scored his final bucket of the night with a short jumper along the left baseline and after two Mobley free throws, Ivan Njegovan scored his first college bucket, when he caught a Mobley feed and layed it in off the window. Another Njegovan bucket in the lane added to the Buckeye lead and increased the run to 12-0. Evansville split a pair of freebies to stop the run, but Njegovan banked in a straight on three and that would be the final score as Ohio State took a late shot clock violation to end the scoring.
It certainly wasn’t an ideal start for the Buckeyes as the game got a little ragged in the first 20 minutes, but to their credit, they came out in the second half and did a much better job attacking the rim and getting much better looks in the half court. Defensively, they played tough, physical and connected and made everything difficult for Evansville and really allowed the Buckeyes to weather the storm offensively until they were able to find their rhythm. Devin Royal had a night to remember, active on the glass and was able to find space with the ball in his hands and finished around the rim. The shooting numbers from distance weren’t there for a second straight game, but they took what was given, especially in the second half and were able to use their defense to create offense to pull away. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good news coming out of this one as Sean Stewart, who was very active on both ends in this game, went down with what looked to be a head injury early in the second half. Evan Mahaffey stepped up in his absence, pulling down 7 rebounds and if he is out for any length of time, the minutes will be important for both Mahaffey and Royal at the 4 to continue to be productive on the glass. While this was clearly a case of an overmatched opponent, these are important games to work through deficiencies and grow as a team and continue to develop chemistry.
Ohio State continues the homestand hosting Campbell on Friday evening in the Schott. Tip time is scheduled for 6pm and airing on BTN.
-Jason Harris