Ohio State extends win streak to three games after defeating William & Mary, 97-62
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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The Buckeyes reached a 40-point lead against the Tribe.
The
Ohio State Buckeyes are now on a three-game winning streak after defeating the
William & Mary Tribe on Saturday afternoon, 97-62. With the win, OSU now improves to 8-3 (2-0) on the season.
11,158 fans in attendance made the trek out to Value City Arena for the noon tipoff to witness the Buckeyes continue their winning ways.
Keita Bates-Diop led all players on the floor in points. On 11-of-16 shooting,
Bates-Diop scored 27. Sixteen of those points came in the second half; on top of that, the forward secured five rebounds.
From the field,
Kaleb Wesson had the best percentage (70%) after making 7-of-10 shots. He ended up with 17 points in the game—good enough for second most on the team.
Right behind Wesson was C.J. Jackson. Jackson had 16 points in the game, scoring eight points in either halves. Of the Buckeyes, Jackson had the best long distance shot, making 4-of-5 three-point attempts. He also ended the game with six assists and two rebounds.
Prior to the game, it was announced that freshman Kyle Young wouldn’t play for the Buckeyes due to a sprained right ankle.
Here’s how this one went down.
For the first four minutes, the Tribe were sticking with the Buckeyes. Both teams went into the first media timeout at 10-10. Two William & Mary three-pointers were a reason for how well their offense was operating in the early going.
On top of that, both teams were trading baskets. Not long after the
media timeout, a Nathan Knight jumper for W&M was answered by a layup from OSU’s Kaleb Wesson; a Jae’Sean Tate layup was then answered by a Tribe layup—with Knight being the scorer.
At the 11:35 mark of the half, the home team only held a 22-20 lead against the visitors. However, things were about to bust open in favor for the Buckeyes.
Shots made by Bates-Diop, free throws made by Wesson, and a t
hree-pointer from Andrew Dakich fueled an 18-2 Ohio State scoring run. At the same time, the Tribe were struggling to move the ball toward the basket. Over the course of 7:23, five turnovers were committed by the visitors, as well as a scoring drought that reached five minutes. In all of this hustle and bustle, the Buckeyes were able to take a commanding 15-point lead, 37-22, with 4:23 left in the first half.
After the under-4 timeout, WIlliam & Mary continued their shooting slump—ultimately causing their deficit to increase. There was a stretch where the Tribe went 1-of-10 from the field. O
n the other side, C.J. Jackson hit an NBA-range three-pointer and kept the scoring run going. Even though the visiting side put a few points on the board, it wasn’t enough to completely stop OSU’s run. With just under two minutes left in the half, the Buckeyes had a run that got up to 17-2. The run, in large part, fueled Ohio State’s largest lead of the game, 22 points with 1:37 remaining in the half, and paced the Buckeyes in the first half.
When the halftime siren sounded, the Bucks held a 48-32 lead. At the break, two Buckeyes crossed the double-digit scoring mark, as Wesson had 13 points and Bates-Diop had 11.
From the field, Ohio State shot a very nice 69 percent; William & Mary had a slightly less nice mark, hitting 50 percent of their shots. Both teams attempted 26 shots from the field in the first half. In the turnover category, both teams were close to each other. WM had eight TOs, while OSU had six.
Down 16 off the break, William & Mary needed to get hot from the field if they wanted to extend their winning streak to six games. On their first possession, Knight m
ade a layup via a David Cohn assist. However, Bates-Diop answered with a two-pointer of his own.
Bates-Diop’s make started off a streak of six-straight made shots for Ohio State. Two of those made shots were from beyond the arc—and both belonged to Kam Williams. Not before long, the under-16 minute timeout came with the Buckeyes pushing their lead out to 23 points, 62-39.
Ohio State maintained the hot-hand, and hit 10 (!) straight shots from the floor. On the backe
nd of the streak, Dakich and Jackson buried three-pointers. With 12:24 left in regulation, the Buckeyes were way out in front, 74-50.
Even though they treaded on a 20-plus point lead, the Scarlet and Gray were about to venture into the more impressive depths. Continuing their successful shooting ways, and mixed with William & Mary going on a four-minute point drought, OSU went up by as many as 32. Ohio State hit the plateau with the help of an 11-0 scoring run.
Also fueling the run, William & Mary struggled to hold onto the ball, turning it over seven times in just 13 minutes of second half play. (In comparison, the Buckeyes only coughed the ball up three times in the same time span.)
But, the scoring run wasn’t done, as OSU went on a 16-0 run in the waning minutes of the half. Coupled with a six-minute duration of zero Tribe points, the Buckeyes were up 92-52 with 4:49 left in the game.
Down 40, there was no coming back from it, and the Buckeyes rode off into the afternoon with another home win.
The Buckeyes get a six-day break before they have to hit the hardwood again. Their next game will be next Saturday at home against Appalachian State. Tip-off for that one will be at 6 p.m. ET.
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