After an emotionally-draining one-point loss to North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday afternoon, Ohio State (9-3) returned to Columbus for their final tune-up game of the non-conference
slate. The Grambling State Tigers (5-7) out of the SWAC were today’s visitor, making it the second meeting ever between the two programs — Ohio State won the first meeting 82-55 on Nov. 17, 2015.
The Buckeyes struggled to shoot the ball from deep early in the game, missing their first four three-point attempts but hitting all five shots from inside the arc. That led to a 12-5 lead at the under-12 media timeout, but five early turnovers also kept the score down and close. Grambling — a team that does not take many threes — went 1-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first eight minutes of the game.
Ohio State wasn’t able to create separation from the Tigers, and by the under-four media timeout the lead was still seven, 25-18. The Buckeyes’ were racking up the turnovers, committing 10 of them in the first half alone — which was limiting how many shots they were able to take. However Ohio State hit their final six shots of the first half, taking a 39-24 lead into the locker room. There were no double-digit scorers in the first half — Thornton had nine, and both Royal and Tilly had eight.
The home team went up by 20 for a moment early in the second half, but back-to-back threes from Grambling’s Derrius Ward and Jamil Muttilib cut it to 56-40 with 14 minutes remaining in the game. Mobley knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to help Ohio State extend the lead to 20 once again, 64-44, with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
The Buckeyes gradually built on that lead, thanks in part to better ball security as well as Mobley hitting four three-pointers in the second half. Although this one was never really in doubt, Ohio State used the final 10 minutes to ice it away and win their ninth game of the season, 89-63.
Rather than breaking this game down play—by-play the entire way, we’re going to keep today’s story on-theme and fit the game into the song “The 12 Days of Christmas.” Merry Christmas, happy holidays, if you celebrate anything, enjoy it with those closest to you!
One – Charge drawn by Gabe Cupps in the first half
With 11:59 left in the first half and Ohio State leading 12-5, Grambling’s Roderick Coffee tried to back Gabe Cupps down near the elbow. He dribbled a few times, and then extended an arm to move Cupps away. The sophomore guard did not move the first time, but when the second shove came, Cupps stumbled backwards, and an offensive foul was called on Coffee. That led into the under-12 media timeout, and Jake Diebler ran up to Cupps, pumped his fists, and gave him a high five.
Two – Missed dunks by Antonio Munoz in the first few minutes
Grambling State’s freshman forward entered Tuesday’s game as the team’s leading scorer at 14.1 points per game, and played at perennial powerhouse Whitney Young High School in Chicago. He was aggressive early in this game, taking four of Grambling’s first eight shots. After Grambling won the opening tip, Munoz whiffed on a mostly open dunk, with the ball popping out and landing in A’mare Bynum’s hands as Munoz still hung on the rim.
Then, with Ohio State up 6-5, Munoz stole the ball off of a bad pass from Devin Royal at the other end, taking it coast to coast and once again missing on the uncontested dunk. Ohio State kept the lead.
Three – Defenders drawn in by Bruce Thornton before dishing to Bynum for a basket
With Ohio State leading 31-21 and 1:03 left in the first half, Thornton drove to the right block, spun around to the opposite side to draw in three Grambling defenders, and then was able to pass between two of them to a cutting Bynum, who was running up the baseline. Bynum caught it and went up to slam it down all in one motion, putting the Buckeyes up, 33-21.
Four – Assists for John Mobley Jr. for the second-straight game
Mobley registered a team-high four assists on Tuesday against Grambling, paired with zero turnovers. That’s the second game in a row Mobley has been credited with four assists, as he also had four against North Carolina paired with zero turnovers. His assist to turnover rate is inching closer to 2:1 on the season, right now he has roughly 1.6 assists for every one turnover.
Five – Players in double-digits
Ohio State went without bench production for the second consecutive game, but the starters all got in on the action, with each starter scoring at least 10 points on Tuesday afternoon.
Six – Players with at least three assists
With a 575.% assist percentage this season, Ohio State entered Tuesday’s game 82nd nationally in percentage of shots that they assist on. They were just a smidge better than their season average on Tuesday, getting at least two assists from six different players — Mobley, Bynum, Royal, Thornton, Tilly, and Noel.
Seven – Made free throws in the first half
Ohio State entered Tuesday’s game as the second-best free throw shooting team in the Big Ten at 78.3%. The Buckeyes went a perfect 7-for-7 at the line in the first half, with all seven coming from Thornton (3-for-3) and Tilly (4-for-4).
Eight – Defensive rebounds for A’mare Bynum
In 31 minutes, Bynum finished with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, nine rebounds (eight defensive), and three assists. The eight defensive rebounds was a career-high for the freshman.
Nine – Made dunks and layups in the first half
Ohio State’s struggles shooting the three-ball lately have been well-documented by myself and others, but they continue to dominate teams closer to the basket. The Buckeyes entered today’s game shooting 61.5% from two-point range — 10th-best in the country.
To reinforce that stat a bit, Ohio State was 9-for-10 on dunks and layups in the first half of Tuesday’s game. When they weren’t turning the ball over, Ohio State was borderline unstoppable if they took the ball to the basket and created a close look.
Ten – First half turnovers for Ohio State
The Buckeyes only committed six turnovers against North Carolina this past weekend, and were averaging 10.7 per game leading into Tuesday’s game. That number is about to go up, however, as they committed a whopping 10 turnovers in the first half alone on Tuesday afternoon against Grambling. The Tigers have been one of the best teams in the country forcing teams into turnovers, with a 20.6% defensive turnover rate on KenPom.
Even knowing this, Ohio State was still loose with the ball, trying to fit passes into spaces where it was far too easy for the defense to deflect, or trying to throw passes down the court on the fast break well ahead of the teammate they were looking for. Bynum, who made his second collegiate start on Tuesday, had four turnovers in the first half.
Eleven – Second-half assists
Ohio State assisted on 11 of their 16 second-half baskets, with four different players recording two or more assists in the second half.
Twelve – Ohio State’s lead with 11:43 remaining
The Buckeyes came out of the gates hot in the second half, pushing their lead to 54-34 just over four minutes into the second half. It looked like Ohio State was well on its way to a blowout win at home, but over the next four minutes or so the Buckeyes only scored two points, courtesy of Thornton, which allowed Grambling to make it a game again. The visiting Tigers cut the lead to 56-44 on a Muttilib layup, and the visitors very much had life.
