In what was billed Holiday Hoopsgiving, part of a series of games played in Atlanta, 2nd ranked Auburn, playing what was essentially a home game, being only 90 minutes from their campus, drilled what continues to be a shorthanded Ohio State team 91-53. The Tigers, who quite possibly boast the best team in America and a bona fide national title contender made short work of the Buckeyes, catching fire from the outside early, dominating in every facet, using a 25-5 run early in the first half to take control and never look back as Ohio State never got closer than 11 the rest of the way. Auburn improved to 9-1 while Ohio State, who lost by more than 30 points for the first time in almost 6 years, fell to 6-4. Ohio State shot a dismal 35% from the field and just 6 of 16 from long range, while the Tigers got comfortable early and shot 46% for the game while knocking down 13 of 30 from three. In addition to the shooting numbers, the Tigers held a commanding advantage on the backboards, out rebounding Ohio State by a staggering 49-28 number. The clear best player in America, Johnii Broome of Auburn dominated the Buckeyes en route to a double-double, scoring 21 and ripping down 20 boards to lead all scorers, while Denver Jones added 14, Jahki Howard scored 11 and Drake Cardwell chipped in 10. Ohio State was led by Devin Royal’s 14 and Micah Parrish added 10. 

Ohio State scored first with a Micah Parrish spin move along the left baseline and led 3-0 after Devin Royal split a pair of free throws. Then, Auburn took over, scoring 15 of the next 17, hitting 3 of 4 from long range, to take a 15-5 lead into the first media timeout. Auburn added on out of the timeout, out scoring Ohio State 7-3 as the Buckeyes could only muster 3 Royal free throws, forcing Jake Diebler to take a timeout, trailing 22-8 less than 8 minutes into the game. Another Auburn triple prior to the under 12 media timeout had the Tigers in front 25-8 and dominating the Buckeyes on both ends.  Auburn’s shooting cooled off coming out of the timeout and the Buckeye defense increased the intensity, spurring a 6-0 run as the Buckeyes got buckets from Royal, Parrish and Stewart to cut the lead to 25-14 at the under 8. The Tigers stopped the run with a 9-0 run of their own before a pair of Meechie Johnson free throws dropped. After an Auburn hoop in traffic, the Tigers took a 36-16 lead into the final media timeout of the half. A pair of Stewart free throws out of the timeout was answered quickly with a Tiger triple in transition against the Ohio State full court press. After another pair of Tiger three’s was followed by a Johnson triple. Auburn scored another pair of buckets sandwiched around a pair of missed free throws by Johnson and the half mercifully came to an end with Auburn taking a commanding 49-21 lead into the locker room. Ohio State shot just 25% from the floor in the first 20 minutes as every shot inside was challenged by the bigger and more athletic Tiger team who blocked 7 shots and just 1 of 5 shots from beyond the arc fell for the Buckeyes in what was a disastrous first half of basketball. Auburn hit 49% of their shots and made a red hot 9 of 16 from three. The Tigers didn’t just dominate on the scoreboard, they did it on the glass as well, out rebounding Ohio State 28-14. Auburn was led by Johni Broome, the favorite to win national player of the year, who had a first half double-double, scoring 17 to go along with 14 rebounds. Denver Jones scored all 12 of his first half points from beyond the arc, hitting all 4 of his attempts. Ohio State was led by 6 each from Sean Stewart and Devin Royal. 

Auburn opened the second half with a pair of buckets to extend the lead, but a Parrish triple and a Royal bucket at the rim answered. After 4 more Tiger points, Parrish knocked down a step back jumper from the right wing and at the under 16 media timeout, Auburn led Ohio State 57-28. A pair of Auburn buckets sandwiched an Austin Parks two and a Royal dunk off a lob from John Mobley, Jr., and after another Auburn triple, Mobley hit one of his own from the left wing. Two Tiger free throws preceded the under 12 media timeout with Auburn leading 66-35. Four more Tiger points and Auburn was doubling up the Buckeyes before Stewart scored in the post. After two more Tiger buckets, Ohio State took a timeout with 7:46 to play and Auburn all over Ohio State, 74-37. After Auburn split a pair of free throws, Royal bagged two for the Buckeyes, before another Auburn triple. Bruce Thornton scored his first points with a three and Parrish split a pair of free throws before a terrible foul call on Parrish while a Tiger was attempting a three sent the teams to the benches for the final media timeout with Auburn coasting to the finish, up 78-43. Auburn added 7 more before a Royal step back 15 foot jumper fell through the ropes. Auburn hit another wide open three but a Mobley step back three answered. A Mobley runner in the lane was followed by an alley-oop dunk on the other end, and Ohio State completed the scoring when Ivan Njegovan banked in a three from the left wing as Auburn finished off what ended up being one of the worst losses Ohio State has had in recent memory. 

The Buckeyes once again, played without starting center Aaron Bradshaw, who is nearing a return and is back with the team, along with the continued absences due to injury of backup point guard Ques Glover and wing Colin White. While they could have used all three, it certainly wouldn’t have mattered in this one. While the officiating clearly favored the ‘home’ team for much of the game, it wasn’t the difference in the game. Auburn is a veteran and supremely talented basketball team and illustrates how far off Ohio State is from being an elite basketball team. Ohio State has now been blown away in convincing fashion in two of their last three basketball games, In big games, Ohio State needs their best players to play their best games and in this one, Ohio State’s best, Bruce Thornton was a non-factor being held scoreless for 35 minutes before finally knocking down a three with 5 minutes to go.  The Tigers are extremely talented, athletic and long and out classed the Buckeyes in every area. They played with much more physicality and clearly are the better of the two teams, compared to the Maryland debacle where the talent disparity wasn’t as great, but in the end the results are what they are. Bottom line after all of that is that it’s just one loss and the Buckeyes will need to regroup, get back to full strength and continue building as we head to the end of the calendar year and more good days will be ahead than bad. But on this day, and for the second time in three games, Ohio State was humbled in a big way. The Buckeyes will have a quick turn around, coming back home to play Valparaiso on Tuesday night before heading to New York City for another top 10 matchup with Kentucky in the CBS Sports classic on Saturday evening. 

Ohio State heads back home to welcome Coach Jake Diebler’s alma mater, Valparaiso to the Schott on Tuesday evening. Game time is scheduled for 8 PM with television coverage on Peacock.

-Jason Harris