Road Big Ten matches against top-25 opponents are tough.
In the Chris Holtmann era, the state of Ohio was 1-9 in road games against top-25 big ten opponents. The only win was against Purdue in his first season. Usually it’s a challenge.
But not mostly Saturday at the Rutgers Athletic Center. Not 17 days after Rutgers center Myles Johnson hit his shot, he took advantage of the second chance with the Buckeyes after kicking the 80-68 defeat to the Scarlet Knights against them on December 23rd.
The state of Ohio attacked Rutgers early and ended the first half on a 22-4 run to take a 12-point lead as the teams entered the locker room. By the fifth minute of the second half, the Buckeyes were pulling away with a 20-point lead, and although the Scarlet Knights left the gap to eight points with 59 seconds left, Ohio secured a 79-68 victory.
The Buckeyes bounced back from a 17-point loss to Minnesota and improved the season to 9-3 and improved 3-3 within the Big Ten.
EJ Liddell (17 points) and Duane Washington Jr. (17 points) led to an offense in the state of Ohio that shot 51 percent off the floor and reached 10-for-24 from 3-point. Washington was 4-out-8 from behind the arc. Kyle Young added 13 points, and Justice Sueing had 11 points, 10 boards and five assists.
Much of the Buckeyes’ success can be attributed to their success on the glass, where they had a 43-29 lead in the rebounds division, nine of which were at the offensive point.
Jimmy Sotos doubled his previous season-high 28 minutes as an appetizer due to CJ Walker’s hand injury, and was the point guard at the head of a free-kick offense. He scored six points, four assists and three rebounds, but left the game with less than four minutes left, holding his shoulder as he was helped to the locker room.
The Scarlet Knights shot 45 percent from the floor, but were only 5-for-19 from the arc and 5-for-10 from the offense. The state of Ohio attempted 28 free throws, making 19 of them.
However, the game was not always in the hands of the Buckeyes. At least not early Saturday.
Despite the state of Ohio leading 18-13 in the first eight-and-a-half minutes, including a piece that included seven shots in seven possessions, Rutgers started a ten-point run – driven by a four-point game – to pull ahead by five points. This preceded the Buckeyes’ run 22-4, which, however, turned the game around to end the half in favor of the road team.
Following: The state of Ohio returns to Columbus on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a home game against Northwestern. The Wildcats beat the Buckeyes, 71-70, in Evanston, Illinois, on December 26th.
Other notes
-
Meechie Johnson Jr. debuted in Ohio State after graduating early from Garfield Heights High School and enrolling in college in mid-December. He started practicing last week, so his playing time is limited. Still, he entered Saturday’s game with 11:34 left in the first half and played four minutes.
-
CJ Walker and Ibrahima Diallo both sat out, as expected. Walker was diagnosed with torn ligaments in his right hand earlier this week and will be out of action indefinitely. Diallo has a sprained MCL and will not be playing again anytime soon.
-
Head coach Chris Holtmann, who recently spoke about the possible reduction of his rotation, has yet to do so. He played all 11 players on his bench within the first 12 minutes of the match.
-
It was the second and final game between Ohio State and Rutgers of the regular season. The Buckeyes won the first game, 80-68, on Dec. 23 in Columbus.
-
The state of Ohio entered the day with a 9-3 record of all time against the Scarlet Knights and a 5-1 point in the Holtmann era.
-
Kyle Young scored the 500 point on Saturday.