Ohio State, clinging by a thread on the right side of the bubble by most projections, desperately needed a win to finish off the Los Angeles swing and after building a lead as large as 17 in the first half, Ohio State held on  in the second half to down the host USC Trojans 87-82 before a sparse crowd in the Galen Center, snapping their three game losing streak and in the process, bolstering their NCAA tournament hopes. The Trojans, who were once on that bubble, have now dropped 4 straight and 6 out of their last 7. Ohio State improves to 16-13, 8-10, while USC slips to 14-14, 6-11. USC missed just one shot inside the arc in the second half, roaring all the way back to get even with just under a minute to play, but Ohio State outscored the Trojans 7-2 to finish the game, hitting 5 of 6 from the stripe down the stretch to seal it. The Buckeyes cooled off from a hot start to still shoot a solid 54% for the game, including 11 of 20 from downtown and also knocked down 22 of 26 from the line. The Trojans shot it even better, due to their red hot second half, hitting 60% for the game, 7 of 18 from beyond the arc and 21-26 from the free throw line. Ohio State was led by Bruce Thornton and Micah Parrish who each scored 20, while John Mobley Jr. added 18. Devin Royal added 13, none bigger than a three point play to break an 80 all tie in the final minute. Wesley Yates III led all scorers with 27, while Chibuzo Agbo added 17 and Desmond Claude and Rashaun Agee chipped in 12 each for USC. 

A pair of mid range Sean Stewart jumpers and two John Mobley, Jr triples gave Ohio State a 10-9 lead at the first media timeout with each team having knocked down 4 of their first 5 shot attempts. The Buckeyes extended their lead to 4 when Aaron Bradshaw, back after having missed the prior two games due to illness, buried a three from the top. After a USC score, Devin Royal answered with a pair of free throws to keep the 4 point bulge. USC split a pair of free throws and on the other end Micah Parrish buried a 15 foot jumper to extend the lead. USC scored in transition to cut into the lead, but Bruce Thornton answered with a right wing three and at the under 12, Ohio State led 20-14, but Stewart was heading to the bench with his second foul, albeit a very questionable call. A Parrish triple extended the lead to 9 after Royal grabbed an offensive rebound to keep the possession alive. After USC hit 3 free throws, Parrish got to the rim along the baseline and flushed it home putting Ohio State up 8. After a USC bucket cut it back to 6, Ohio State proceeded to go on a 9-0 run capped by a Thornton triple forcing USC to take a timeout at the 7:41 mark of the first half and Ohio State leading 34-19. Thornton scored 7 of the 9 with Mobley scoring the other 2. The Trojans answered with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 10 before a Thornton runner stopped the run. USC answered with a three, but on the other end Evan Mahaffey cut along the baseline and took a pass from Thornton and scored on a reverse lay up. USC knocked down a pair of free throws and when Parrish was fouled attempting a three, the final media timeout of the half was called with Ohio State leading 40-31. Out of the timeout, Parrish went to the line and buried two of the three attempts to build the Buckeye lead back to 11. After a Trojan deuce, Colin White drilled a three from the left corner. A pair of Trojan free throws was answered by a Mobley triple and on the next Trojan possession, they turned it over and a technical foul was whistled on USC head coach Eric Mussleman. Thornton went to the stripe to attempt the technical foul shots and knocked them both down putting Ohio State up 15 with 1:20 left in the half. The Buckeyes maintained possession and Parrish got to the rim and scored off the window. A Trojan three capped the first half scoring with Ohio State taking a 52-38 lead into the locker room. Red hot shooting from the Buckeyes led to the big halftime lead as Ohio State shot 73% from the floor and 8 of 9 from long range. USC shot it well themselves but not quite that well, hitting on 54.5% of their attempts and 4 of 8 from long range. The Trojans went 10 of 11 from the stripe, while Ohio State knocked down 6 of their 8 attempts. The Buckeyes shot it well in large part due to efficient half court offense and great shot selection leading to 13 assists on 19 made buckets. Because of the hot shooting from both teams, only 17 rebounds were grabbed in total in the first half, with Ohio State holding a 9-8 lead in that category. Bruce Thornton led all scorers with 14, while Micah Parrish and John Mobley, Jr added 13 and 11 respectively to lead the Buckeyes. USC was led by Chibuto Agbo’s 11 after 20 minutes of basketball.

 A three point shooting contest broke out in the early minutes of the second half as the Trojans knocked down three triples and Ohio State had one traditional and one of the old-fashion variety, both from Royal and at the under 16, the Buckeyes led 64-51. Six straight Trojan points and to make matters worse, Royal went to the bench with his 4th personal. Ohio State was forced to call a timeout when Thornton fell to the floor with basketball in tow and with 13:27 to play, Ohio State’s lead was sliced to 64-57 as the momentum had flipped to the home team.  The Buckeyes broke a near 4 minute scoring drought when Parrish drilled a three from the right wing, increasing the lead back to 10. The Trojans hit a pair of free throws and then scored after a Buckeye turnover and at the under 12 media timeout, USC was creeping closer with Ohio State leading 67-61. USC got it to within 5, splitting a pair of free throws, but Mobley answered with a spin move in the lane and a jumper that banked through. The Trojans converted an old-fashioned three point play on the other end to crawl to within 4, but Parrish drilled a cold-blooded three with a hand in his face to slow the momentum. A USC bucket cut the lead to 5 and at the under 8, the Buckeyes led 72-67. Four Thornton free throws sandwiched a Trojan bucket and the Buckeyes led by 7 with 7 minutes to play. The Trojans answered, scoring the next 6 to close to within 1 and at the under 4 with 3:50 to play, Ohio State was clinging to a 76-75 lead. Out of the timeout, Thornton went to the line and hit two to extend the lead and on the other end, the Buckeye defense forced a 5 second violation turning it back to the Buckeyes where Royal was fouled putting him on the line and he bagged the pair to put Ohio State up 5 with 3 minutes left in the game. USC split a pair of free throws and after a Buckeye miss, hit a runner to cut the lead to 2. Another Buckeye miss and the Trojans scored off the glass and Jake Diebler took a timeout with 57 seconds to play with USC on a 5-0 run to tie the score at 80. Royal made a strong move to the basket out of the timeout and scored off the window while drawing a foul. The ensuing free throw dropped to complete the three point play and give the Buckeyes a three point lead with 41.3 seconds to play. On the other end, Parrish picked the pocket of a Trojan and went the other way, drawing a foul attacking the rim. Parrish split the pair adding to the lead with 25 seconds left. A foul on the other end put the Trojans on the stripe with 20 seconds left and the Trojans made both to trim the lead to 2. Mobley was fouled advancing the ball up the sideline and he split his two attempts putting Ohio State ahead by 3 with 17 seconds left to play. USC’s three point attempt fell off target and the ball was deflected out of bounds off a Trojan giving Ohio State the ball with just under 4 seconds to play. Mobley was immediately fouled and he knocked down the pair to seal it as Ohio State’s bench let out a collective exhale as the Buckeyes came away with a big win.  

The flu bug was real and it negatively affected this basketball team over the last couple weeks, but tonight was a get well night and boy did they. The first 20 minutes was a thing of beauty. The ball moved, shot selection was on point and the open looks were falling. The second half was a mixed bag. USC came out of the locker room as the aggressor, clawing back to draw even with less than a minute to play as the Buckeye offense became stagnant at times and the shooting % reflected the lack of efficiency, but to Ohio State’s credit, they were able to fend off the scrappy Trojans to hang on and get a big road victory.  Facing adversity all season long and still feeling the after effects of the flu bug, the Buckeyes have continued to fight and despite letting the big lead disappear tonight, they showed tremendous toughness to finish this one the way they did with everything on the line and their tournament hopes hanging in the balance. It will go down as a huge Quad 1 win and add to a resume that has them controlling their destiny over the last two games to hear their name called on Selection Sunday. All in all, it’s a successful trip out west and they get to fly back home tomorrow and take a little time off from game action to get ready for a big home finale on Tuesday night. 

Ohio State hits the floor again on Tuesday night at home for the final time in the regular season, hosting Nebraska in the Schott. Tip time is scheduled for 9 pm on Peacock.

-Jason Harris