Ohio State beats Notre Dame in Fiesta Bowl: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
January 4, 2016Browns coaching selection game: Conspiracy, Snark, or Rational?
January 4, 2016Following their dismal non-conference season, Ohio State seems to be back on track. With two wins over Minnesota and Illinois to begin their Big Ten season, they are now on a six-game winning streak, including a still somewhat unbelievable win over the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats.
Buckeyes make it look easy in 78-63 Big Ten opener win over Minnesota
In their Big Ten opener, Ohio State’s defense impressed, yet again, in a 78-63 victory over the Gophers.
Holding leads of 11-0 and 24-9 in the opening 10 minutes, the scarlet and gray allowed Minnesota ease their way back into the game, holding just a 37-34 lead at halftime. They played much better in the second half (again), outscoring Minnesota 41-29 to get the convincing win in their conference opener.
Ohio State’s stifling defense held Minnesota to 36 percent shooting (33 percent from three-point range). The Bucks offense may struggle at times, but they have been able to lean on their defense for the majority of the time, especially during their current win streak. Head coach Thad Matta made sure to comment on the Buckeyes defense following their win over the Gophers.
“Defensively, I thought we did a great job. They did a good job of moving us around, but there was a game plan we wanted to stick to and our guys did a pretty good job.”
Three Bucks scored in double digits: Marc Loving (20 points, six rebounds, two assists), Keita Bates-Diop (13 points, six rebounds, one steal), and Jae’Sean Tate (10 points, three rebounds, two assists). From a bench that scored 25 points, Daniel Giddens (9 points, four rebounds, one block) and Kam Williams (seven points, five rebounds, one steal) played some crucial minutes throughout.
The most impressive stat of the game was the 24 (!) assists that the Bucks had on 29 made field goals. The Ohio State point guards — JaQuan Lyle and A.J. Harris – combined for 17 of those assists and only had three turnovers. Lyle said the two freshman point guard-tandem that has turned into a very good problem to have for the Buckeyes.
“We’re two totally different players, he’s quick as lightning and I control the pace. Whenever he does come off the bench nothing changes everything is still rolling. If I’m slacking he picks me up coming off the bench and vice-versa.”
On Ohio State’s current six-game winning streak, Lyle — who had a career-high 13 assists — said that the Bucks have become more of a team since earlier in the season.
“I think we grew up as a basketball team and we grew together. I think that’s the main thing, we’re a basketball team now there are no individuals.”
Ohio State holds onto lead late to beat Illinois, 75-73
The Buckeyes held a 59-51 lead with 7:37 remaining and seemed to be smoothly sailing to a 2-0 start in the Big Ten and their sixth consecutive victory. But that was before the Fighting Illini went on a 10-0 run to take the lead with just under five minutes remaining. JaQuan Lyle said that the run knocked Ohio State out of sync, but they rallied and were able to hold on to a 75-73 win over Illinois.
“I think when they had that come back run we started pointing fingers at each other. When we huddled up, we decided we needed to get back out there and do what we needed to do. We all stepped out from the huddle and started making the plays that we needed to.”
In the win over Illinois, four Bucks scored in double-digits: Marc Loving (career-high 27 points, seven rebounds, one block), JaQuan Lyle (14 points, four rebounds, five assists), Keita Bates-Diop (11 points, nine rebounds, two assists, one block), and Kam Williams (10 points, two rebounds, one steal). The most impressive part of Loving’s 27 points was the fact that they came from just eight shots; the junior was 14-of-19 from the free-throw line.
Per usual, Ohio State started slow, letting Illinois get out to a quick 6-0 lead, but they answered back with their own 18-2 run to take a 10-point lead midway through the first half. Matta said that he had a bad feeling in his gut about the start of the game.
“I didn’t think we were really efficient. We got off to such a slow start … we didn’t have a great pace to us. I had an odd feeling to start the game like ‘Gosh, we’re not clicking the way we need to.’”
While Ohio State had 14 turnovers — and forced just eight turnovers — Loving and company were able to fight through adversity to get their sixth consecutive win and start the conference season 2-0.
Coming up this week:
Wednesday at Northwestern (13-2), 9:00 p.m. ET
Sunday at Indiana (12-3), TBD