Ohio State took the floor missing a pair of starters and a reserve, but still had more than enough to take care of visiting Campbell, cruising past the Camels 104-60, hitting the century mark for the first time this season. Ohio State was without the services of their entire starting frontcourt, missing power forward Sean Stewart, out in concussion protocol after hitting his head in a fall in the Evansville game and without center Aaron Bradshaw, who due to an undisclosed issue and is currently away from the team. Additionally, backup point guard Ques Glover, who suffered an ankle injury in the Texas A&M missed a second straight game. Despite all of that, the Buckeyes used red hot shooting to pull away from Campbell, using a 20-2 run midway through the first half rolling to their 4th win in 5 tries. With the loss, Campbell slips to 3-3. The Buckeyes, who shot 64.5% from the field and 65% from beyond the arc, put six in double figures led by a game high 23 from John Mobley, Jr. Devin Royal added 17 points and 8 rebounds, just missing his second straight double-double. Micah Parrish added 16 points and 9 rebounds, while Meechie Johnson chipped in 12. Bruce Thornton scored 11 to go along with 7 assists and Evan Mahaffey also scored 11. Campbell got 12 from Bragi Gudmundsson and 10 each from Jasin Sinani, Terren Frank and Cam Gregory in the loss. 

Campbell scored on their first two possessions to take an early 4-2 lead, but Ohio State scored 7 straight to grab their first lead with Micah Parrish scoring the first 7 Buckeye points. Campbell outscored Ohio State 5-2 over the next two minutes, with the Buckeye bucket coming from Evan Mahaffey, tipping in his own miss and at the first media timeout, Ohio State led Campbell 11-9 with Parrish and Mahaffey the only Buckeyes to crack the scoring column in the opening minutes. Campbell drew even, hitting a pair of free throws out of the timeout, but a long triple from the head of the circle by John Mobley, Jr put the Buckeyes back ahead. The Camels cut it to one with a transition lay up, but 5 quick Mobley points, including a three from the right point extended the Buckeye lead and at the under 12, Ohio State led 19-13. Out of the timeout, Austin Parks went to the stripe and converted one of two to add to the lead. 3 Buckeye turnovers turned into 4 Campbell points, but a Devin Royal free throw and threes from Meechie Johnson and Bruce Thortnon had the Buckeyes up 27-17 at the under 8 media timeout. Out of the timeout, the run continued.  Mobley hit 2 of 3 free throws and then corner threes by Mobley and Parrish forced Campbell to take a timeout at the 5:35 mark with Ohio State leading 35-17 and on a 15-0 run. Campbell stopped the run with a bucket on their end but another Mobley three from the point and a Mahaffey bucket capped a 20-2 run as the Buckeyes were firmly in control. The Camels converted an old-fashioned three point play, but Thornton answered with a three from the left wing and with 3:49 left in the first half, Ohio State led Campbell 43-22. Campbell scored 5 around a Parrish three to cut into the lead a bit, but another Mobley triple and a Royal dunk and pair of free throws ended the first half with Ohio State taking a 53-27 lead into the locker room. The Buckeyes clearly were feeling it in the first half, hitting 11 of 13 three attempts and 18 of 29 overall, good for 62%, assisting on 13 of those 18 made shots, while Campbell hit just 2 of 9 from long range and 44% overall. John Mobley, Jr. led all scorers, hitting all 5 of his 3 point attempts on his way to 19 first half points, while Micah Parrish drilled all 3 of his 3 point attempts, adding 13. Campbell was led by 7 points from Jasin Sinani.  

The teams shared buckets early in the second half with Royal scoring Ohio State’s first 6. After a Campbell bucket, Thornton scored off the window while being fouled and converted the free throw for an old-fashioned three point play. After a Campbell turnover, Johnson found Royal at the rim for a dunk and at the under 16 media timeout, Ohio State led 64-35. Ohio State extended the lead when Austin Parks hit a turn around baseline jumper from 10, The run continued when Colin White knifed through the defense for a lay in. Campbell ended the 9-0 run, hitting the Buckeyes with a backdoor lay-in, but Johnson got to the rim off the dribble drive and scored and went to the line and completed the three point play. After Mahaffey split a pair of freebies, Campbell hit a step back 3 ending what ended up being a 13-2 run. Johnson attacked the rim from the left wing and finished with a reverse lay-in after a Euro step freed him some space and at the under 12, Ohio State led 74-40. More Buckeyes out of the timeout, scoring the next 7, 3 from Parrish, 2 each by Royal and Mobley, before Campbell split a pair of free throws. Thornton hit a cutting Mahaffey for a flush and after Campbell split another pair of freebies, Mahaffey used a hesitation move to get to the rim and score off the window and at the under 8, the Buckeyes led the Camels 85-42. Two Thornton free throws and a Royal pull up jumper from the stripe sandwiched a Campbell dunk against a Buckeye zone extended the lead. After a pair of Camel freebies, back to back dribble drive scores by Mobley and Johnson edged the Buckeyes closer to the century mark. The Buckeyes got out in transition and Johnson left it for the trailing White, who flushed it home bringing the crowd to their feet. A pair of free throws on two separate trips sandwiched around a Johnson lay-in prompted Coach Diebler to clear his bench and with just under 4 to play, Ohio State led 97-52. After a pair of Camel free throws, Kalen Etzler scored his first points of the season, getting to the rim off the bounce and on the other end , White came up with a steal and led the break where he finished with a hammer dunk to excite the crowd and put the Buckeyes over the century mark. Campbell scored the next 4 before Etzler drilled a triple from the left wing. A Campbell three capped the scoring as Ohio State walked off the floor with the win. 

The Buckeyes did what they were supposed to against an overmatched team despite facing adversity, missing 3 key rotation players including 2 starters and facing the likelihood of missing Aaron Bradshaw for an extended period of time. The first half, it was about the three point shooting, scoring 33 of their 53 points from beyond the arc and in the second half they went inside more, scoring 34 in the paint after halftime. The Buckeyes once again did a great job moving the ball on offense and sharing the basketball at a high level, assisting on 22 of their 40 made shots and the defense once again played extremely connected, locking down the opponent in the half court, holding the Camels to just 40% shooting and 4 of 20 from the perimeter. Campbell grabbed a very early lead, but once the Buckeyes flexed their muscle, they pulled away quickly, leading for all but 1:22 of this ballgame and coasted to the finish. Now, they must face a future that may or may not include their prized transfer addition and what that is going to look like. Sean Stewart should return soon, but when Bradshaw returns, if at all, remains a mystery. The good news is this team has depth and it showed again on this night. Devin Royal and Evan Mahaffey are elite rebounders and along with Stewart it gives them a trio of top level players on the glass moving forward, but the question remains if Bradshaw is out for a while, when they play a bigger team, how do the defend the post effectively being undersized in the post. Time will tell, but for now, it will be a quick turn around for the Buckeyes as they hit the floor again on Monday night.

Ohio State next hits the floor on Monday night, hosting Green Bay at the Schott for a 7pm tip time airing on BTN

-Jason Harris

Photo Credit: Land Grant Holy Land