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LGHL Devin Royal puts Buckeyes on his back, carries Ohio State past Rutgers 80-66
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Devin Royal puts Buckeyes on his back, carries Ohio State past Rutgers 80-66
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
The sophomore from Pickerington scored a career-high 22 points Saturday, including 16 in the second half.
Saturday afternoon in Columbus, the Ohio State University men’s basketball team (6-3, 1-1) welcomed the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers (5-4, 0-1) to the Schott for the only scheduled meeting between the two teams this year. The Buckeyes swept the Scarlet Knights last year, squeaking out a four-point win at home and then popping RU by 22 at the RAC the following month.
This Rutgers team is different than the Scarlet Knights of years’ past. They’re led by two guys who are bound to be lottery picks next spring in the 2025 NBA Draft — Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. Steve Pikiell is leaning on youth and an explosive offense rather than Rutgers’ typical gritty defend, rebound, and grind style.
Ohio State continues to play shorthanded, as sophomore big man Aaron Bradshaw is currently being investigated by the university for a possible “domestic incident” at his home last month.
With Bradshaw, Colin White, and Ques Glover still out, Jake Diebler stuck with the same lineup he’s used for the last two games — Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson, Micah Parrish, Sean Stewart, and Devin Royal.
Steve Pikiell started Bailey and Harper alongside Jeremiah Williams, Jordan Derkack, and Emmanuel Ogbole. The Scarlet Knights entered this game with a clean bill of health.
Stops were optional over the first several minutes, with the teams playing to a 13-13 tie by the first media timeout. The Buckeyes were getting the ball into the paint nearly every possession, and Royal scored six points within the first five minutes of the game. Ace Bailey looked smooth early, but the combination of Thornton and Parrish worked to keep Harper disconnected from the offense early on.
Ohio State continued to assault the painted area throughout the first half. Royal, Mahaffey, and Stewart all had big buckets and all three were cutting to the basket well and leaving open space for the others to operate near the basket. Despite not shooting it particularly well from deep in the first half (4-for-11) the Buckeyes went into the locker room at halftime with a 39-31 lead.
Thornton had 14 points in the first half, but the Buckeyes also outsourced Rutgers in the paint, 20-10. Stewart, Royal, and even Austin Parks had big-time buckets during the front 20, and Parks even grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds during his seven first-half minutes.
Rutgers cut the Ohio State lead to four for a moment, but Royal responded with an offensive rebound and basket over Derkack, and then Thornton jumped a passing lane and snagged a Derkack pass that was meant for Tyson Acuff and took it the other way, slamming the ball down at the other end to put Ohio State back up, 47-39, with 15:03 left in the game.
By the under-eight timeout the Ohio State lead had shrunk to 63-54. Rutgers was answering Ohio State baskets with their own, but the Scarlet Knights were having a hellish time guarding sophomore forward Devin Royal. Royal was limited in the first half because of foul trouble, but blew up in the second half, scoring 16 more points by the 7:53 mark to give him a career-high 22 (at the time).
However, Harper awoke from his slumber as well, crossing the 10-point plateau by knocking down a pair of long three-pointers. The Scarlet Knights hadn’t made a serious push at this point, but they weren’t going away, either.
With 5:24 remaining in the game Johnson dribbled from the corner up the baseline towards the basket, and was greeted by three RU defenders. He quickly dished it off to Parrish in the opposite corner, who nailed a corner three to put the Buckeyes up 10 points, 66-55. On the very next Ohio State possession, Johnson had the ball at the top of the key and could’ve hoisted a deep three. Instead, he saw that nobody was next to Parks below the basket, so he dumped it off to the big man, who slammed it home to make it 68-55 Ohio State with 4:38 to go.
That stretch from Johnson proved to be crucial, as the Buckeyes pushed their lead to a game-high 14. They didn’t ease off from there, closing out Rutgers at home and picking up their first Big Ten win of the year, 80-66.
If you weren’t able to make it to the Schott on Saturday afternoon to see Ohio State pick up its first Big Ten win of the season over Harper, Bailey, and the Scarlet Knights, here were a few key moments that made the difference in this one:
Harper entered Saturday’s game as the fourth-leading scorer in the nation at 23.8 points per game and was taking 16 shots per game. The combination of Parrish and Thornton were the primary defenders on Rutgers’ leading scorer, and they did a good job keeping the ball out of Harper’s hands in the first half.
Harper only took one shot through the first 14 minutes of the game, and finished the first 20 minutes with just four points on 1-3 shooting. The Scarlet Knights had other guys, like Derkack, hitting shots, but Ohio State was refusing to let the duo of Bailey and Harper both beat them.
After Ohio State’s embarrassing loss to Maryland earlier this week, Royal said that he and his team did not get the ball to the paint enough — something that Diebler has stressed needs to happen nearly every possession. Even if the shot doesn’t happen below the basket, making sure the ball gets touched there can open up shots on the perimeter as well.
The Buckeyes got the ball to the paint on 17 of their 32 possessions in the first half, and finished the half with a 56.7% shooting percentage. Ohio State started the first half by forcing the ball low on the first four possessions of the game, but ended the half with back-to-back turnovers where Parrish and Mobley never even got the ball inside the three-point line.
Thornton scored 14 points in the first half on 6-of-7 shooting in 19 minutes. He knocked down both of his three-point tries and dished out three assists while committing zero turnovers. Sounds post play from guys like Stewart and Royal opened up Thornton for easier looks away from the basket in the first half.
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With Ohio State up 45-39 and 15:10 left in the game, Derkack tried to pass the ball to Acuff, who was guarded by Thornton. However, Thornton saw it all the way and jumped the passing lane, snagging it and turning the steal into a dribble down the floor. He out-ran Acuff to the other end and elevated for an insane one-handed slam to put the Buckeyes back up, 47-39.
After playing just six minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Royal was able to take the floor in the second half and play with a little more freedom. He scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting over the first eight minutes of the second half. He and Thornton combined to score Ohio State’s first 15 points of the second half as Ohio State clung to a single-digit lead.
Meechie Johnson has not played well this season, and he did not play well for the first 35 or so minutes of Saturday’s game, either. But the senior guard from Cleveland dominated the game on three consecutive possession late in the game, sealing the win for the Buckeyes.
With Ohio State up 63-55, Johnson dribbled towards the basket into a crowd, but instead of forcing up a layup in traffic he dished off to Parrish in the corner, who snapped off a three to put Ohio State up 66-55.
On the very next offensive possession, Johnson considered shooting a deep straightaway three, but instead noticed Parks below the basket and nobody covering him. He threw a line drive to Parks, who slammed it home to put the Buckeyes up 68-55.
On the next offensive possession, Johnson drove to the basket and scored a layup through contact, making it 70-56 with 3:58 left in the game.
Ohio State (6-3, 1-1) gets a full week off before traveling to Atlanta next weekend to face off with No. 2 Auburn (7-1) in the Holiday Hoopsgiving Event. The Tigers already have two top-five wins on their resume, having beaten No. 4 Houston and No. 5 Iowa State. They have another ranked win over No. 12 North Carolina as well, and were the winners of the Maui Invitational. Auburn is currently the No. 1 team in the country in the KenPom rankings.
The Buckeyes’ game against Bruce Pearl’s Tigers is set to tip off at 1:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
The sophomore from Pickerington scored a career-high 22 points Saturday, including 16 in the second half.
Saturday afternoon in Columbus, the Ohio State University men’s basketball team (6-3, 1-1) welcomed the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers (5-4, 0-1) to the Schott for the only scheduled meeting between the two teams this year. The Buckeyes swept the Scarlet Knights last year, squeaking out a four-point win at home and then popping RU by 22 at the RAC the following month.
This Rutgers team is different than the Scarlet Knights of years’ past. They’re led by two guys who are bound to be lottery picks next spring in the 2025 NBA Draft — Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. Steve Pikiell is leaning on youth and an explosive offense rather than Rutgers’ typical gritty defend, rebound, and grind style.
Ohio State continues to play shorthanded, as sophomore big man Aaron Bradshaw is currently being investigated by the university for a possible “domestic incident” at his home last month.
With Bradshaw, Colin White, and Ques Glover still out, Jake Diebler stuck with the same lineup he’s used for the last two games — Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson, Micah Parrish, Sean Stewart, and Devin Royal.
Steve Pikiell started Bailey and Harper alongside Jeremiah Williams, Jordan Derkack, and Emmanuel Ogbole. The Scarlet Knights entered this game with a clean bill of health.
Stops were optional over the first several minutes, with the teams playing to a 13-13 tie by the first media timeout. The Buckeyes were getting the ball into the paint nearly every possession, and Royal scored six points within the first five minutes of the game. Ace Bailey looked smooth early, but the combination of Thornton and Parrish worked to keep Harper disconnected from the offense early on.
Ohio State continued to assault the painted area throughout the first half. Royal, Mahaffey, and Stewart all had big buckets and all three were cutting to the basket well and leaving open space for the others to operate near the basket. Despite not shooting it particularly well from deep in the first half (4-for-11) the Buckeyes went into the locker room at halftime with a 39-31 lead.
Thornton had 14 points in the first half, but the Buckeyes also outsourced Rutgers in the paint, 20-10. Stewart, Royal, and even Austin Parks had big-time buckets during the front 20, and Parks even grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds during his seven first-half minutes.
Rutgers cut the Ohio State lead to four for a moment, but Royal responded with an offensive rebound and basket over Derkack, and then Thornton jumped a passing lane and snagged a Derkack pass that was meant for Tyson Acuff and took it the other way, slamming the ball down at the other end to put Ohio State back up, 47-39, with 15:03 left in the game.
By the under-eight timeout the Ohio State lead had shrunk to 63-54. Rutgers was answering Ohio State baskets with their own, but the Scarlet Knights were having a hellish time guarding sophomore forward Devin Royal. Royal was limited in the first half because of foul trouble, but blew up in the second half, scoring 16 more points by the 7:53 mark to give him a career-high 22 (at the time).
However, Harper awoke from his slumber as well, crossing the 10-point plateau by knocking down a pair of long three-pointers. The Scarlet Knights hadn’t made a serious push at this point, but they weren’t going away, either.
With 5:24 remaining in the game Johnson dribbled from the corner up the baseline towards the basket, and was greeted by three RU defenders. He quickly dished it off to Parrish in the opposite corner, who nailed a corner three to put the Buckeyes up 10 points, 66-55. On the very next Ohio State possession, Johnson had the ball at the top of the key and could’ve hoisted a deep three. Instead, he saw that nobody was next to Parks below the basket, so he dumped it off to the big man, who slammed it home to make it 68-55 Ohio State with 4:38 to go.
That stretch from Johnson proved to be crucial, as the Buckeyes pushed their lead to a game-high 14. They didn’t ease off from there, closing out Rutgers at home and picking up their first Big Ten win of the year, 80-66.
If you weren’t able to make it to the Schott on Saturday afternoon to see Ohio State pick up its first Big Ten win of the season over Harper, Bailey, and the Scarlet Knights, here were a few key moments that made the difference in this one:
Buckeyes denying Harper the ball early
Harper entered Saturday’s game as the fourth-leading scorer in the nation at 23.8 points per game and was taking 16 shots per game. The combination of Parrish and Thornton were the primary defenders on Rutgers’ leading scorer, and they did a good job keeping the ball out of Harper’s hands in the first half.
Harper only took one shot through the first 14 minutes of the game, and finished the first 20 minutes with just four points on 1-3 shooting. The Scarlet Knights had other guys, like Derkack, hitting shots, but Ohio State was refusing to let the duo of Bailey and Harper both beat them.
Getting the ball to the paint
After Ohio State’s embarrassing loss to Maryland earlier this week, Royal said that he and his team did not get the ball to the paint enough — something that Diebler has stressed needs to happen nearly every possession. Even if the shot doesn’t happen below the basket, making sure the ball gets touched there can open up shots on the perimeter as well.
The Buckeyes got the ball to the paint on 17 of their 32 possessions in the first half, and finished the half with a 56.7% shooting percentage. Ohio State started the first half by forcing the ball low on the first four possessions of the game, but ended the half with back-to-back turnovers where Parrish and Mobley never even got the ball inside the three-point line.
Big play Bruce at it again
Thornton scored 14 points in the first half on 6-of-7 shooting in 19 minutes. He knocked down both of his three-point tries and dished out three assists while committing zero turnovers. Sounds post play from guys like Stewart and Royal opened up Thornton for easier looks away from the basket in the first half.
I was not familiar with your game, Mr. Thornton
With Ohio State up 45-39 and 15:10 left in the game, Derkack tried to pass the ball to Acuff, who was guarded by Thornton. However, Thornton saw it all the way and jumped the passing lane, snagging it and turning the steal into a dribble down the floor. He out-ran Acuff to the other end and elevated for an insane one-handed slam to put the Buckeyes back up, 47-39.
Royal, Thornton two-man game
After playing just six minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Royal was able to take the floor in the second half and play with a little more freedom. He scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting over the first eight minutes of the second half. He and Thornton combined to score Ohio State’s first 15 points of the second half as Ohio State clung to a single-digit lead.
Smart plays from Meechie seal the deal
Meechie Johnson has not played well this season, and he did not play well for the first 35 or so minutes of Saturday’s game, either. But the senior guard from Cleveland dominated the game on three consecutive possession late in the game, sealing the win for the Buckeyes.
With Ohio State up 63-55, Johnson dribbled towards the basket into a crowd, but instead of forcing up a layup in traffic he dished off to Parrish in the corner, who snapped off a three to put Ohio State up 66-55.
On the very next offensive possession, Johnson considered shooting a deep straightaway three, but instead noticed Parks below the basket and nobody covering him. He threw a line drive to Parks, who slammed it home to put the Buckeyes up 68-55.
On the next offensive possession, Johnson drove to the basket and scored a layup through contact, making it 70-56 with 3:58 left in the game.
What’s next?
Ohio State (6-3, 1-1) gets a full week off before traveling to Atlanta next weekend to face off with No. 2 Auburn (7-1) in the Holiday Hoopsgiving Event. The Tigers already have two top-five wins on their resume, having beaten No. 4 Houston and No. 5 Iowa State. They have another ranked win over No. 12 North Carolina as well, and were the winners of the Maui Invitational. Auburn is currently the No. 1 team in the country in the KenPom rankings.
The Buckeyes’ game against Bruce Pearl’s Tigers is set to tip off at 1:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
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LGHL Ohio State men’s basketball vs Rutgers: Game preview and prediction
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Ohio State men’s basketball vs Rutgers: Game preview and prediction
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images
Something has to give this afternoon in Columbus, as both Rutgers and Ohio State enter today’s contest riding two-game losing streaks.
Ohio State’s men’s basketball team (5-3) enters today’s game against Rutgers riding a two-game losing streak. After suffering a heartbreaking loss in overtime last week at home to Pitt, the Buckeyes were thoroughly dusted on Wednesday night in College Park against Maryland in their first Big Ten game of the season.
Jake Diebler’s team provided no resistance for the Terrapins in the first half, as Maryland took a 50-17 lead into the halftime break.
Only two Buckeyes reached double figures in scoring in Wednesday night’s blowout loss. Devin Royal nearly notched his third double-double of the season, finishing the game with a team-high 18 points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes. John Mobley Jr. added 15 points in 24 minutes off the bench, hitting three triples in the loss. With his trifecta of three-pointers, Mobley has now hit at least three three-pointers in six of Ohio State’s eight games this season.
Not only was Ohio State without Aaron Bradshaw on Wednesday night as the Kentucky transfer continues to be sidelined as he is being investigated for a domestic incident, a number of Buckeye starters struggled mightily against the Terrapins. Meechie Johnson Jr. went 2-13 from the field, scoring just eight points. Micah Parrish missed all five of his field goal attempts, scoring his only two points in the game from the free throw line. Even Bruce Thornton wasn’t very active on the offensive end, failing to reach double figures in scoring for just the second time this season.
The Buckeyes can’t hang their head too long as they have a tough contest this afternoon against Rutgers, who enter this game with the same 5-3 record as Ohio State. Last year the Buckeyes swept the regular season series with the Scarlet Knights, winning 76-72 in Columbus, followed by a 73-51 rout of the home team in New Jersey. The victories extended Ohio State’s edge in the all-time series to 13-5, and the Buckeyes are still perfect against Rutgers in Columbus, winning all eight times they have hosted the Scarlet Knights.
When the teams met at Value City Arena last season, Bruce Thornton had one of his best games of the season, scoring 24 points and dishing out seven assists. Entering today’s game, Thornton is leading Ohio State in scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game. Now in his third season as a Buckeye, Thornton has scored 1,045 points, sitting 10 points behind Ken Johnson and Jamie Skelton, who are tied for 53rd in school history. With 13 points, Thornton would move past Kam Williams’ career total of 1,057 points. Along with his scoring prowess, Thornton currently sits fourth in the country with a 5.3 assist-to-turnover ratio.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25777623/usa_today_24872811.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Pittsburgh at Ohio State")
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
While Thornton has been a steadying force in the backcourt for Ohio State this year, the most exciting Buckeye has been freshman John Mobley Jr, who is currently leading the Big Ten in three-point shooting. Not only are the 3.00 three-pointers per game that Mobley is hitting leading the Big Ten, he is also shooting 55.8 percent from beyond the arc. With Mobley’s help, Ohio State has now hit at least one three-pointer in 349 straight games. The last game where the Buckeyes weren’t able to hit a three came back in March 2014 against Indiana.
Opposing Ohio State this afternoon are the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, who had some lofty expectations entering this season because of a talented freshman class. The most notable first-year Scarlet Knights are Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, son of former NBA player Ron Harper and younger brother of former Rutgers star Ron Harper Jr. Harper is the team’s leading scorer through the first eight games, averaging 23.8 points per game. Harper scored 36 points against Notre Dame in the Players Era Festival - Impact Tournament in Las Vegas last week, and followed it up with 37 points the next night against Alabama.
With those scoring outputs, Harper not only has posted the highest scoring games by a freshman in the country so far this season, the McDonald’s All-American became the first Rutgers player since Quincy Douby in 2006 to score 30 points in back-to-back games. Harper can do more than just put the ball in the basket, as he is averaging 4.5 rebounds per game, along with 4.6 assists per game.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25777626/2187620099.jpg "Players Era Festival: Texas A&M v Rutgers")
Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images
The other highly-touted freshman to suit up for Rutgers this year is Ace Bailey, who missed the first two games of the season before making his debut last month by scoring 17 points against Monmouth. Bailey has really started to find his scoring touch lately, combining for 46 points in losses to Alabama and Texas A&M last week in Las Vegas, The Tennessee native is averaging 18.8 points per game, making him the only other Rutgers player besides Harper to enter today’s game averaging double figures in scoring this season. By pulling down 10 rebounds last time out, Bailey now has two double-doubles this season.
To compliment the talented freshman duo, head coach Steve Pikiell dipped into the transfer portal over the past two years. Prior to last season, Pikiell brought in guard Jeremiah Williams, who had previously attended Iowa State and Temple. Williams played in 12 games last season after making his debut in early February, averaging 12.2 points per game. This season, Williams is scoring 9.1 points per game in 23.1 minutes per contest. Along with Williams, joining Rutgers from the transfer portal are guards Jordan Derkack of Merrimack, Tyson Acuff of Eastern Michigan, and PJ Hayes IV from San Diego. In the front court, Zach Martini stayed in the Garden State, moving from Princeton to Rutgers in the offseason.
Pikiell is in his ninth season as head coach of the Scarlet Knights, posting a 137-124 record after accepting the position prior to the 2016-17 season after spending 11 seasons at Stony Brook. The former point guard at UConn has led Rutgers to the NCAA Tournament twice, most recently falling in a First Four game to Notre Dame in 2022. Last season the Scarlet Knights were bounced in overtime in the first round of the NIT by Hofstra. With two of the top freshmen in the country, Rutgers and Pikiell will be trying to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1979.
Even though both teams enter this game on two-game losing streaks, there is more optimism surrounding Rutgers because of Harper and Bailey. Plus, the Scarlet Knights have had a week off to catch their breath after three games in Las Vegas, with two of those contests coming against No. 10 Alabama and No. 22 Texas A&M, two of the tougher teams in the SEC this season. After a slow start to their pairing on the floor after Bailey missed the first two games of the season, it looks as if Harper and Bailey are really starting to gel with each other, as well as those surrounding them on the court.
Right now morale around the Ohio State basketball program is at its lowest point of the young season so far. Along with the drama surrounding Bradshaw and his alleged “domestic incident”, the Buckeyes are coming off their worst performance of the season. The win against Texas in the season opener seems like forever ago. Since then, the Buckeyes have feasted on cupcakes and failed to meet the moment against tougher competition. While Ohio State should have beaten Pitt last week, they were no match in road contests against Texas A&M and Maryland.
Unfortunately these two teams look to be trending in opposite directions. The Buckeyes have a talented roster that hasn’t played to their potential yet. Meechie Johnson hasn’t lived up to expectations since returning to Columbus after spending the last two seasons at South Carolina. Another disappointment so far this season has been Duke transfer Sean Stewart, who hasn’t come close to living up to the hype coming out of high school. Stewart’s ineffectiveness in the front court has been magnified by Bradshaw being away from the team, as well as the recent injury to Colin White.
As nice as it would be to predict an Ohio State win today, the explosiveness of Bailey and Harper will be a little too much for the Buckeyes to withstand. Ohio State has had trouble with power conference teams so far this season, and the Scarlet Knights should be able to exploit the weaknesses of the Buckeyes and earn their first win ever in Columbus in a tight game that isn’t decided until late in the second half.
ESPN BPI: Ohio State 82.3%
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
TV: FS1
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Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images
Something has to give this afternoon in Columbus, as both Rutgers and Ohio State enter today’s contest riding two-game losing streaks.
Ohio State’s men’s basketball team (5-3) enters today’s game against Rutgers riding a two-game losing streak. After suffering a heartbreaking loss in overtime last week at home to Pitt, the Buckeyes were thoroughly dusted on Wednesday night in College Park against Maryland in their first Big Ten game of the season.
Jake Diebler’s team provided no resistance for the Terrapins in the first half, as Maryland took a 50-17 lead into the halftime break.
Only two Buckeyes reached double figures in scoring in Wednesday night’s blowout loss. Devin Royal nearly notched his third double-double of the season, finishing the game with a team-high 18 points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes. John Mobley Jr. added 15 points in 24 minutes off the bench, hitting three triples in the loss. With his trifecta of three-pointers, Mobley has now hit at least three three-pointers in six of Ohio State’s eight games this season.
Not only was Ohio State without Aaron Bradshaw on Wednesday night as the Kentucky transfer continues to be sidelined as he is being investigated for a domestic incident, a number of Buckeye starters struggled mightily against the Terrapins. Meechie Johnson Jr. went 2-13 from the field, scoring just eight points. Micah Parrish missed all five of his field goal attempts, scoring his only two points in the game from the free throw line. Even Bruce Thornton wasn’t very active on the offensive end, failing to reach double figures in scoring for just the second time this season.
Preview
The Buckeyes can’t hang their head too long as they have a tough contest this afternoon against Rutgers, who enter this game with the same 5-3 record as Ohio State. Last year the Buckeyes swept the regular season series with the Scarlet Knights, winning 76-72 in Columbus, followed by a 73-51 rout of the home team in New Jersey. The victories extended Ohio State’s edge in the all-time series to 13-5, and the Buckeyes are still perfect against Rutgers in Columbus, winning all eight times they have hosted the Scarlet Knights.
When the teams met at Value City Arena last season, Bruce Thornton had one of his best games of the season, scoring 24 points and dishing out seven assists. Entering today’s game, Thornton is leading Ohio State in scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game. Now in his third season as a Buckeye, Thornton has scored 1,045 points, sitting 10 points behind Ken Johnson and Jamie Skelton, who are tied for 53rd in school history. With 13 points, Thornton would move past Kam Williams’ career total of 1,057 points. Along with his scoring prowess, Thornton currently sits fourth in the country with a 5.3 assist-to-turnover ratio.
While Thornton has been a steadying force in the backcourt for Ohio State this year, the most exciting Buckeye has been freshman John Mobley Jr, who is currently leading the Big Ten in three-point shooting. Not only are the 3.00 three-pointers per game that Mobley is hitting leading the Big Ten, he is also shooting 55.8 percent from beyond the arc. With Mobley’s help, Ohio State has now hit at least one three-pointer in 349 straight games. The last game where the Buckeyes weren’t able to hit a three came back in March 2014 against Indiana.
Opposing Ohio State this afternoon are the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, who had some lofty expectations entering this season because of a talented freshman class. The most notable first-year Scarlet Knights are Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, son of former NBA player Ron Harper and younger brother of former Rutgers star Ron Harper Jr. Harper is the team’s leading scorer through the first eight games, averaging 23.8 points per game. Harper scored 36 points against Notre Dame in the Players Era Festival - Impact Tournament in Las Vegas last week, and followed it up with 37 points the next night against Alabama.
With those scoring outputs, Harper not only has posted the highest scoring games by a freshman in the country so far this season, the McDonald’s All-American became the first Rutgers player since Quincy Douby in 2006 to score 30 points in back-to-back games. Harper can do more than just put the ball in the basket, as he is averaging 4.5 rebounds per game, along with 4.6 assists per game.
The other highly-touted freshman to suit up for Rutgers this year is Ace Bailey, who missed the first two games of the season before making his debut last month by scoring 17 points against Monmouth. Bailey has really started to find his scoring touch lately, combining for 46 points in losses to Alabama and Texas A&M last week in Las Vegas, The Tennessee native is averaging 18.8 points per game, making him the only other Rutgers player besides Harper to enter today’s game averaging double figures in scoring this season. By pulling down 10 rebounds last time out, Bailey now has two double-doubles this season.
To compliment the talented freshman duo, head coach Steve Pikiell dipped into the transfer portal over the past two years. Prior to last season, Pikiell brought in guard Jeremiah Williams, who had previously attended Iowa State and Temple. Williams played in 12 games last season after making his debut in early February, averaging 12.2 points per game. This season, Williams is scoring 9.1 points per game in 23.1 minutes per contest. Along with Williams, joining Rutgers from the transfer portal are guards Jordan Derkack of Merrimack, Tyson Acuff of Eastern Michigan, and PJ Hayes IV from San Diego. In the front court, Zach Martini stayed in the Garden State, moving from Princeton to Rutgers in the offseason.
Pikiell is in his ninth season as head coach of the Scarlet Knights, posting a 137-124 record after accepting the position prior to the 2016-17 season after spending 11 seasons at Stony Brook. The former point guard at UConn has led Rutgers to the NCAA Tournament twice, most recently falling in a First Four game to Notre Dame in 2022. Last season the Scarlet Knights were bounced in overtime in the first round of the NIT by Hofstra. With two of the top freshmen in the country, Rutgers and Pikiell will be trying to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1979.
Prediction
Even though both teams enter this game on two-game losing streaks, there is more optimism surrounding Rutgers because of Harper and Bailey. Plus, the Scarlet Knights have had a week off to catch their breath after three games in Las Vegas, with two of those contests coming against No. 10 Alabama and No. 22 Texas A&M, two of the tougher teams in the SEC this season. After a slow start to their pairing on the floor after Bailey missed the first two games of the season, it looks as if Harper and Bailey are really starting to gel with each other, as well as those surrounding them on the court.
Right now morale around the Ohio State basketball program is at its lowest point of the young season so far. Along with the drama surrounding Bradshaw and his alleged “domestic incident”, the Buckeyes are coming off their worst performance of the season. The win against Texas in the season opener seems like forever ago. Since then, the Buckeyes have feasted on cupcakes and failed to meet the moment against tougher competition. While Ohio State should have beaten Pitt last week, they were no match in road contests against Texas A&M and Maryland.
Unfortunately these two teams look to be trending in opposite directions. The Buckeyes have a talented roster that hasn’t played to their potential yet. Meechie Johnson hasn’t lived up to expectations since returning to Columbus after spending the last two seasons at South Carolina. Another disappointment so far this season has been Duke transfer Sean Stewart, who hasn’t come close to living up to the hype coming out of high school. Stewart’s ineffectiveness in the front court has been magnified by Bradshaw being away from the team, as well as the recent injury to Colin White.
As nice as it would be to predict an Ohio State win today, the explosiveness of Bailey and Harper will be a little too much for the Buckeyes to withstand. Ohio State has had trouble with power conference teams so far this season, and the Scarlet Knights should be able to exploit the weaknesses of the Buckeyes and earn their first win ever in Columbus in a tight game that isn’t decided until late in the second half.
ESPN BPI: Ohio State 82.3%
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
TV: FS1
LGHL score prediction: Rutgers 78, Ohio State 74
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