Browns ABC’s: Avoiding Bad Conclusions, Week 15
December 29, 2015Ezekiel Elliott cited for three traffic violations following crash
December 29, 2015What seemed like a quiet Christmas week for the Ohio State hoops team was made to look easy against two teams that they should have handily beaten. If 2015-16 has shown us anything, however, it’s that no task is a gimme for this incarnation of the Buckeyes. Thankfully, unlike earlier in this season, the Scarlet and Gray came away with two victories against two teams that were significantly lesser opponents.
Ohio State pulls away late in 64-44 win over Mercer
In what was a tail of two halves Tuesday nigh with Buckeyes struggling in the first half against the Bears, holding just a 25-24 lead at halftime. But, whether it were the halftime adjustments or just the fact that the scarlet and gray decided to wake up and play basketball, they dominated Mercer in the second half, outscoring them 39-20, to win their third consecutive game easily, 64-44.
Guard JaQuan Lyle made sure to mention the difference between the two halves for the scarlet and gray, mentioning that they just couldn’t find the back of the net in the first half.
“I think we just couldn’t make shots. We got great looks but they weren’t dropping. We still played great defense, but we were just missing open looks and thinking too much…We started to play harder late in the first half and we started to make a run, but we couldn’t pull away. We kept that intensity though and kept playing hard, and with that intensity we pulled away at the end,” Lyle said of the team’s performance in the first 20 or so minutes.
Ohio State forced Mercer to shoot just 35 percent from the field and 17 percent from beyond the arc, something that head coach Thad Matta made sure to point out following the game “I think if anyone ever says that defense can’t win a game they don’t know what they’re talking about. Our defense was the deciding factor tonight just with how active we were,” Matta said of his defense.
Freshman Mickey Mitchell, who was deemed ineligible by the NCAA to start the season, made his debut for the Buckeyes on Tuesday night. Although he didn’t score (missed his only shot), the true freshman finished with three rebounds and one steal in eight minutes.
“That was my first game since March of my senior year in high school. It was just great to get out there and finally play a game without constantly getting stopped like in practice. It just felt good playing again and playing with my teammates…Ultimately, the win loss column is the most important thing,” said Mitchell.
Three Ohio State players scored in double-digits in the win: JaQuan Lyle (18 points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block), Jae’Sean Tate (13 points, six rebounds, two assists, seven steals), and Keita Bates-Diop (12 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals)
Once again, the Buckeyes struggled from the free-throw line, making just 9-of-17 (53 percent) from the free-throw stripe against the Bears. They also shot a season-low 14 percent (3-of-22) from three-point range.
Freshman walk-on Joey Lane made his first shot (non-free throw) of his college career, draining a three-pointer late in the blowout victory over Mercer.
Buckeyes start slow, make it look easy late in 73-57 win over South Carolina State
Trailing 15-11 midway through the first half, the Bucks went on a 23-6 run to take a 34-21 lead at halftime—a lead that they held to for the remainder of the game. When the final whistle blew, the Ohio State came away with a 73-57 victory over the Bulldogs of South Carolina State Sunday evening.
Keita Bates-Diop led the Buckeyes comeback in the first half, with 17 points (career-high) in the opening 20 minutes, including making 6-of-8 shots from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point range (career-high).
The sophomore was one of three Buckeyes in double figures. He led all scorers with 24 points, 10 rebounds (third double-double of season), one assist, one steal, and two blocks, while Kam Williams (12 points, four rebounds, two assists) and Trevor Thompson (10 points, 10 rebounds, one block) also had double-digits.
Obviously, Thad Matta made sure to speak of Bates-Diop’s superb play following Sunday’s game. “He did a great job on finding space and guys found him when he was open, when he’s loaded he’s ready,” Matta said.
Although A.J. Harris (five points, three rebounds, six assists) didn’t notch double figures, an impressive four of his five assists in the second half led to alley-oop dunks.
The Buckeyes defense stifled their opponent, once again. They forced the Bulldogs to make just 33 percent of their shots from the floor and 29 percent from beyond the arc. Ohio State also had nine blocks, but forced just four turnovers. They did dominate the boards though, outrebounding South Carolina State, 50-32.
With the Buckeyes winners of five straight and Big Ten play starting this week, Bates-Diop mentioned that conference play will be much different than the non-conference slate.
“It’s a whole new mentality, it’s a whole new season, different feeling everything. Everything is heightened now, it’s more serious,” Bates-Diop said.
Coming up this week – Big Ten play will begin:
Wednesday vs. Minnesota (6-6), 7:00 p.m. ET
Sunday vs. Illinois (8-5), 5:00 p.m. ET