Sophomore guard Evan Mahaffey (12) dribbling around a Texas A&M defender in Ohio State’s 73-66 loss Nov. 10 at Value City Arena. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
With Felix Okpara and head coach Chris Holtmann out due to illness, the Buckeyes knew they had to step it up — and that they did.
After a startlingly slow start, Ohio State (10-2, 1-1 Big Ten) put together a 47-point second half to run away with a 78-36 win over the New Orleans Privateers (5-7, 0-0 SLC) in its final game of the year at Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center Thursday.
Ohio State and New Orleans went back and forth slowly for the first 15 minutes of the contest due to the pair’s combined 31-of-41 shooting and 13 turnovers. At the 5:49 mark of the first, Privateers junior guard Jamond Vincent’s fastbreak dunk gave them a 15-14 advantage.
From then on, the Buckeyes went on a 17-2 run to close out the first half. Graduate forward Jamison Battle’s two-consecutive three pointers provided their scoring spark. He led the team through the first period with eight points and seven rebounds, putting together a 17-point, nine-rebound game by the end of the night.
After one, Ohio State led 31-17.
The Buckeyes came out strong in the second half. Just 16 seconds in, sophomore guard Evan Mahaffey broke free for a dunk. With their sophomore center Okpara, Mahaffey, whose specialty is defense, took on a larger offensive role with eight points on the night, in addition to grabbing six defensive boards.
Sophomore guard Bruce Thornton, Ohio State’s leading scorer with 198, left the game at 13:05 in the second half after driving through the lane and being tripped, falling out of bounds. He headed to the locker room and did not check back in.
Pushing the Buckeyes’ lead to 49-25 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game, freshman forward Devin Royal intercepted a pass headed for New Orleans’ junior forward D’Ante Bell and capitalized with a dunk of his own.
The Privateers’ scoring proved not efficient enough to keep up with the Buckeyes, which began in the rebound game. Ohio State out-rebounded them 47-30 in the second half, giving the Buckeyes many second chances and shooting opportunities.
With under three minutes remaining, freshman center Austin Parks and sophomore guard Colby Baumann were both fouled and headed to the line for two, each scoring their first collegiate baskets to help put their team up 73-33.
Finishing with a few more Battle threes, Ohio State capped the night off against New Orleans by a 42-point advantage.
Keeping it in Ohio for the last game of the calendar year, the Buckeyes will face the West Virginia Mountaineers in Cleveland Dec. 30. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on FOX.
