Road Big Ten games against the top 25 opponents must be difficult.
In the era of Chris Holtmann, Ohio had 1-9 in road games against the top 25 opponents in the top ten. The only victory was against Purdue in his first season. They are usually a challenge.
But not mostly on Saturday at the Rutgers Athletic Center. Less than 17 days after Rutgers center Myles Johnson called his chance, focusing on the rematch with the Buckeyes after he failed to defeat the Scarlet Knights by 80-68 on December 23.
Ohio State attacked Rutgers early, ending the first half with a 22-4 run to gain 12 points ahead when the teams entered the locker room. In the fifth minute of the second half, the Buckeyes secured a 20-point lead and, although the Scarlet Knights narrowed the gap to eight points with 59 seconds remaining, Ohio State secured a 79-68 victory.
Recovering from a 17-point loss to Minnesota, the Buckeyes improved to 9-3 this season and 3-3 in the Big Ten.
EJ Liddell (17 points) and Duane Washington Jr. (17 points) led an Ohio state offensive that hit 51 percent of the ground and hit 10 to 24 with 3 points. Washington was 4 out of 8 behind the arch. Kyle Young added 13 points, and Justice Sueing had 11 points, 10 scholarships and five assists.
A good deal of the Buckeyes’ success can be attributed to their success in the cup, where they had a 43-29 advantage in the rebound department, including nine on the offensive side.
Doubling his record in the previous 28-minute season as a starter due to CJ Walker’s hand injury, Jimmy Sotos served as a point guard in the head of a free attack. He scored six points, four assists and three rebounds, but left the game with less than four minutes remaining, holding his shoulder while being helped into the locker room.
The Scarlet Knights hit 45 percent of the ground, but hit only 5 of 19 from the arc and 5 of 10 from the foul line. Ohio tried 28 free throws, 19 of them.
The game was not always in the Buckeyes’ hands, however. At least not on Saturday.
Although Ohio State advanced 18-13 in the first eight and a half minutes, including a stretch that included seven shots from seven possession, Rutgers started a 10-point run – driven by a four-point move – to pull ahead by five points . This preceded the Buckeyes’ 22-4 run, however, which rocked the game to end the semester in favor of the road team.
Next: Ohio State returns to Columbus for a home rematch against Northwestern at 7pm on Wednesday. The Wildcats defeated the Buckeyes 71-70 in Evanston, Illinois, on December 26.
Other notes
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Meechie Johnson Jr. made her Ohio State debut after graduating from Garfield Heights High School and enrolling in college in mid-December. He started practicing last week, so his playing time was limited. Still, he entered Saturday’s game with 11:34 remaining in the first half and played four minutes.
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CJ Walker and Ibrahima Diallo were left out, as expected. Walker was diagnosed with torn ligaments in his right hand earlier this week and will be out of service for an indefinite period of time. Diallo has a twist at MCL and will not be playing again anytime soon.
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Coach Chris Holtmann, who recently spoke about potentially reducing his rotation, has yet to do so. He played with all 11 players on his bench in the first 12 minutes of the game.
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This was the second and final game between Ohio State and Rutgers of the regular season. The Buckeyes won the first match, 80-68, on December 23 in Columbus.
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Ohio State entered the day with an all-time 9-3 record against the Scarlet Knights and a 5-1 mark in the Holtmann era.
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Kyle Young reached the 500 point mark on Saturday.