BAYAMON, Puerto Rico – With the ball in his hands and a glimmer of light leading to the basket, Ohio State men's basketball player Amare Bynum accelerated across the midcourt line.
Opposing team Los Boris 1 had just turned it over, giving the OSU sophomore forward an opportunity to push the pace. With two blue-clad defenders offering limited resistance, Bynum cut from his left toward the paint, found the rim and exploded for a two-handed dunk in traffic.
With his dunk, the Buckeyes pushed the scoreboard inside Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez to triple digits, giving Ohio State a 100-69 edge. OSU would cruise to a 115-75 win in front of about 100 fans in the first of two exhibition games in as many days.
As he had publicly discussed leading into the game,
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler substituted liberally. By halftime, 12 Buckeyes had seen playing time with only Myles Herro and Braylen Nash awaiting their debuts.
The visitors got on the board early and often. Freshman Anthony Thompson threw down a right-handed slam to open the scoring after Josh Ojianwuna forced a Boris turnover on the first possession of the game. This started a 17-3 run that set the tone for what was to come.
According to statistics kept by The Dispatch, Jimmie Williams finished with a team-high 20 points, Thompson added 17 and junior John Mobley Jr. had 12.
“It’s August,” Diebler said. “We just wanted our guys to play really hard, play together and I felt that part was accomplished regardless of the outcome. That was good. Now we’ve got to rest up and do it again [August 3] against another group of pros.”
After Ojianwuna deflected another pass on Boris’ second possession, Thompson blocked a shot, saved the ball and threw it off a Boris player to give the Buckeyes possession. John Mobley Jr. hit a pull-up jumper to make it 4-0. After a 3-pointer from former Wisconsin forward Mike Bruesewitz, Thompson swished one of his own to make it 7-3. The freshman followed that with a jumper as the shot clock buzzed. Curtis Givens III hit an open 3-pointer. Amare Bynum found Ivan Njegovan for a bucket that forced a timeout with 6:20 left in the quarter and the Buckeyes already ahead 14-3.
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Jimmie Williams capped off the run two possessions later with a 3-pointer. The Buckeyes were off and running.
When Bynum fed Givens on a cut behind the defense for a reverse layup with about 20 seconds left, it made the halftime score 57-39 in favor of the Buckeyes. Ohio State scored on nine of its last 10 possessions before the break, extending its lead from 11 points to 20 over that stretch. Six different Buckeyes scored during the run, which was started by a Williams drive and finish to make it 38-25.
At halftime, Williams already had 11 points and Thompson had 10.
“It’s our first time really playing with each other,” Williams said. “I think we did a great job. I think we shared the ball and learned a few things. I feel like it’s a really good team. We’ve got a lot more to work on, but we’re in a really good space right now. We did great and there’s more to come.”
Ohio State utilized different lineups to start each half. The Buckeyes opened with Mobley Jr., Givens, Thompson, Andrija Jelavic and Ojianwuna and began the second half with Justin Pippen, LJ Smith, Williams, Bynum and Njegovan. For Ojianwuna, it marked his first unofficial appearance in a game for OSU, having sat out the entire 2025-26 season with a knee injury.
Ojianwuna did not play in the second half as Ohio State continues to be cautious with his recovery. He had two pass deflections but did not take a shot or get a rebound in about six minutes of playing time and is expected to have a similar role in the August 3 game that will close the exhibition slate in Puerto Rico.
Bynum flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 6 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Njegovan led the Buckeyes with 10 rebounds and hit a late 3-pointer.
Video! Some postgame thoughts from #OhioState's 115-75 win against Los Boris: https://t.co/1xUIS5MUUB
— Adam Jardy (@AdamJardy) August 2, 2026
Once the Buckeyes went ahead 22-10 on a Williams 3-pointer toward the end of the first quarter, their lead would not be cut to single digits again. The fifth-year senior transfer from Duquesne was 6 for 7 from 3-point range and pulled down four defensive rebounds.
As the final buzzer sounded following a Vuk Lazarevic bucket, fans in the arena yelled out, “O-H!” and those in scarlet took to the court to celebrate with the Buckeyes. After the two teams posed for a group photo, Bynum grabbed hold of a Puerto Rico flag. The Buckeyes gathered for a photo of their own at one corner of the court. Before leaving, Ohio State’s players and staff took another group photo with fans who had made the trip.
Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jimmie Williams, Anthony Thompson lead Ohio State to win in Puerto Rico
