The Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to Hartford, Connecticut, to play at the PeoplesBank Arena and take on the No. 4 UConn Huskies and play their second-ranked opponent of the season in four games.
While Ohio State (2-2) only trailed by two at the half, No. 4 UConn (4-0) used a strong second half to pull away from the Buckeyes and win 84-68.
UConn opened the scoring with a deep 3-pointer from Braylon Mullins, and the Buckeyes answered with an Amare Bynum putback dunk. The Huskies scored the next five
points, and Bynum answered with a 3-pointer of his own. After an Andrija Jelavic layup, the score was tied at 7.
The two teams traded baskets for a couple of possessions, and then UConn went on an 11-2 run, aided by two 3-pointers from Mullins, to take a 25-13 lead. Ohio State answered with an Ivan Njegovan layup, but the defense was struggling to find answers against the UConn offense. The Huskies started the first quarter of the game 9-for-13 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range.
After UConn took a 28-15 lead, Ohio State answered with a 7-0 run of its own, but an and-1 from Colben Landrew gave the Huskies a 31-22 lead. The freshman Landrew had 8 points on 3-for-3 shooting in the opening 11 minutes.
Both teams started playing sloppily and turning the ball over, but Ohio State could not play defense without fouling, and UConn took advantage, taking a 38-27 lead with five minutes left in the first half.
UConn took a 41-37 lead, but a 10-0 run for Ohio State cut the Husky lead to 6 points with a minute left. UConn went almost four minutes without a point during the run. John Mobley knocked down a step-back three at the end of the first half to cap off a 13-1 run, and UConn led 42-40 heading into halftime.
Mobley led the Buckeyes with 12 points at the half on 4-for-6 from the field. Bynum added 9 points, and Jimmie Williams added 6 points off the bench. Braylon Mullins led UConn with 12 points on 3-for-6 from the 3-point range. Silas Demery had 6 points and 4 assists, but only played seven minutes in the opening half after picking up two fouls early in the half.
UConn shot 50% from the 3-point range in the first half, and Ohio State forced nine UConn turnovers and created 16 points from those.
Jimmie Williams started the second half for Ohio State over five-star freshman Anthony Thompson. Thompson had 0 points in nine minutes in the first half. Justin Pippen opened the scoring in the second half to give Ohio State a 43-42 lead. Williams started to take the game over for Ohio State, scoring 9 straight points on 4-for-4 shooting. Mullins knocked down a jumper for UConn to tie the game at 52. UConn went on a 10-2 run to take a 62-54 lead.
The Buckeyes went on a scoring slump, and UConn took advantage, taking a 76-60 lead with five minutes left in the game. That would prove to be enough of a lead for the Huskies as they went on to win 84-68.
Here are three takeaways from the Buckeyes’ loss to UConn.
The defense needs a lot of work
Ohio State came into this game ranked No. 49 in KenPom for defensive efficiency, and it will not be going up after this game. UConn scored 42 points in the first half and shot over 50% from the field, with Silas Demery, Braylon Mullins, and Colben Landrew all shooting the ball well. We knew it wasn’t a great defensive team coming into the season and the offense would have to carry them, but the defense and defensive effort have been worse than expected through the first two weeks. It is hard for a team to reach its ceiling for a season when one side of the ball is this bad, and the effort has to change for a start.
Anthony Thompson needs to come off the bench
Thompson was the highest-ranked recruit to come to Ohio State in 15 years, but it has been a tough start to the season. He came into the contest averaging 5.7 points per game and only played five minutes in the second half against Marshall. In the first half of this contest, he recorded 0 points in nine minutes and was benched to start the second half for Jimmie Williams. I am not giving up on Thompson yet, as there is a lot of the season left, but he is struggling immensely right now, and coming off the bench might give him the spark he needs. Williams should take his spot in the starting lineup.
The Buckeyes have shown flashes, but are inconsistent right now
It has been a tale of two halves for Ohio State’s season so far. They have outscored BYU and UConn combined in the first half, but both teams ran away with the game in the second half. In the two wins, it took Ohio State some time to distance itself from Youngstown State, and Marshall went on a 16-3 run at 1 point.
The Buckeyes have put together 20-25 minutes of good basketball against good teams, but that won’t win any games. They need to put together 40-minute games, or it could be a long conference season.
