Before starting a stretch of five consecutive games against power conference teams, including two Big Ten games, Ohio State (6-0) entertained the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers out of the Metro Atlantic
Athletic Conference on Tuesday night in Columbus.
The Buckeyes were big favorites coming into this game, but the Mountaineers, as they’ve done recently with several high-major teams, came out with some energy in the first few minutes. After Ohio State scored the first five points of the game, Mount St. Mary’s quickly tied it 5-5.
Despite being one of the worst offensive rebounding teams in the MAAC, averaging just 8.7 per game, the visiting Mountaineers grabbed three of them in the first five minutes against OSU. That gave Mount St. Mary’s extra possessions, kept the ball away from the Buckeyes, and kept the score close early.
However, Ohio State ended the first half on a 21-3 run over the final 7:14, doubling up the Mountaineers and taking a 52-26 lead into the locker room. That was led by a dominant performance in the paint, with Ohio State holding a 16-8 lead in the first half. The home team also only turned the ball over three times in the first 20 minutes.
Devin Royal scored seven points in the first four minutes of the second half, adding to the lopsided score and putting the Buckeyes up, 68-31. It was the first time this season where the junior looked like a mismatch playing small forward — Mount St. Mary’s wasn’t going to send their center after him with Tilly also on the floor, but there was nobody else that was able to body up the 6-foot-6, 230 pound forward from Pickerington.
There was certainly basketball being played for the final 15 minutes or so of this game, but very little of it was consequential with Ohio State pushing its lead to 30, 40, and then 50 points during the second half. When the final buzzer sounded, the Buckeyes had wrapped up a dominant 113-60 win, improving to 6-0 for the first time since 2019.
Instead of a full play-by-play, here’s a brief run through the box score basing the different stats off of Thanksgiving dishes.
Happy holidays!
Turkey (Points!)
Points, the main dish. You can’t win the game if you don’t score.
Ohio State came into Tuesday night’s game averaging 88.4 points per game — sixth in the Big Ten. They had accomplished that by shooting a super-efficient 51.5% from the floor, which was the third-best in the conference.
They didn’t struggle to score on Tuesday, either, putting up 113 points on Mount St. Mary’s on 64.1% shooting. The Buckeyes hit eight of their first 12 shots, with four of those buckets coming from sophomore guard John Mobley Jr.
The Buckeyes won the race to 69 with 15:51 remaining in the game, putting them on the fast track to triple-digits. For the second consecutive game, Mobley was great when he was able to get downhill and attack the basket, and Devin Royal looked like his vintage self for the first time all season.
Ohio State finished with five players in double-digits: Mobley, Royal, Tilly, Njegovan, and Thornton.
Mashed potatoes (Defense)
Mashed potatoes, turkey’s most famous sidekick. Even if you’re not a big turkey fan, you can get by with extra potatoes and just a small serving of the main course. Similarly, you can’t win without points, but if you’re struggling to score, you can still win if you keep up the effort on the other end.
The Buckeyes forced Mount St. Mary’s to settle for a ton of contested jump shots on Tuesday night, which is why the visitors fell behind by double-digits within the first 10 minutes. Exactly half of their shots this season have come from beyond the arc, and they upped that by taking 11 of their first 17 from deep.
Ohio State was rotating quickly on defense, so very few of those three-pointers were open looks. The Bucks were also jumping lanes and grabbing lazy passes, with Mobley, Bruce Thornton, and Devin Royal each coming up with a steal apiece in the first half.
The Buckeyes held Mount St. Mary’s to a measly 0.87 points per possession on Tuesday night, and only 37.3% shooting overall.
Green beans (Rebounds)
Green beans are the best vegetable, plus they’re a hearty vegetable — good for your bones and your heart. They are a must-have with any Thanksgiving meal, and dominating the glass is a must if you want to win games in the Big Ten.
Ohio State gave up three offensive rebounds to the Mountaineers in the first five minutes, a bad omen considering they rank 301st in offensive rebounding rate, according to KenPom. However, Mount St. Mary’s did not turn any of those early boards into second-chance buckets, so those offensive rebounds just kept the ball away from Ohio State a bit longer and limited their possessions.
It was not Ohio State’s best performance on the glass all year. They allowed Mount Saint Mary’s to grab eight of their own misses, but they only turned those chances into three second-chance points. For the game, Ohio State out-rebounded Mount St. Mary’s 41-22.
Bread and cranberry sauce (Assists and turnovers)
Adding bread to a meal in any form — bread and butter, rolls, or biscuits — only makes a meal better, and they’re so versatile. Assists make the offense run smoother and look better, too. Cranberry sauce, like turnovers, does not have a place at the table, and you should avoid it if at all possible.
The Buckeyes got a little iso-happy in the first half, with Mobley, Thornton, and Christoph Tilly creating shots for themselves, rather than scoring off the natural flow of the offense. It worked fairly well since the Buckeyes scored 52 points in the first half, but the 35.2% assist rate in the first 20 minutes fell below their season average of 63.8%.
Ohio State moved it around better in the second half, assisting on five of their first nine baskets. Thornton outpaced his season average of 3.6 assists per game, registering five on Tuesday night against zero turnovers.
For the game, Ohio State finished with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 18:8.
Macaroni and cheese (Threes)
Everybody pretty much agrees that three-pointers are the most exciting part of a basketball game, and macaroni and cheese, if done right, is the most delicious part of Thanksgiving. Save your opinions on that, or if you feel the need to complain, send them to the University of Michigan’s admissions office — I’m sure they’ve got a phone number!
Ohio State was solid, but not elite, from beyond the arc in the first half. They went 7-for-16 from downtown, good for 43.8%. What should excite fans, though, is the fact that those seven made threes came from six different players — Thornton (two), Mobley, Royal, Tilly, Bynum, and Noel.
Ohio State was a little more particular about when and where they took their three-pointers in the second half, with just eight of their first 18 shots coming from beyond the arc. Ivan Njegovan hit his first three-pointer of the season to put Ohio State up 85-45 with 9:16 left in the game, making him the seventh Buckeye to connect from long range.
Ohio State finished 15-of-31 from three (48.4%).
Gravy (Free throws)
Imagine this — you’re trying to push through plate number two around 4:00. You throw some turkey and potatoes on your plate, but to make it tastier and easier to push through, you dump a bunch of gravy on both. Maybe you didn’t need it, but topping things off with turkey makes everything easier to eat and easier to eat more. Free throws make a close game not so close, or can be the difference between losing by six and sending the game to overtime. Just sprinkle a few free throws on top, and everything is easier.
Ohio State was money from the free-throw line in the first half, going 11-for-13 from the stripe. They were 5-for-6 at the line in the second half, and the trio of Mobley, Tilly, and Noel were a combined 9-for-9 from the line.
