The Ohio State Buckeyes huddle up on the court during the Ohio State-Indianapolis exhibition game Nov. 1. Ohio State won 82-46. Photo Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
No. 19 Ohio State was battle tested from the beginning, getting booed by Xavier’s students section over half an hour before tip off.
The Buckeyes (3-1) could not overcome the hostile crowd and hounding attack from the Musketeers (3-0), dropping their first road game 71-65.
“I thought, again, it was great preparation given this environment,” head coach Chris Holtmann said. “We came to shoot around and there were 250 students greeting us in a really friendly way on the way in.”
The game looked in hand, sealed by Xavier senior guard Paul Scruggs’ layup after junior forward E.J. Liddell slipped on the floor to make it a six-point Musketeers lead.
However, Liddell battled back, draining a 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining to cut the game to 65-62 in favor of Xavier.
However, Scruggs answered on the other end with an absolute hammer of a dunk over Liddell to ice the game before free throws ensued, preserving the Musketeers’ lead which was only not intact for a 14-second 0-0 tie to open the game.
“He challenged that last one, which he should, and I don’t ever want him to think he shouldn’t have,” Holtmann said. “I thought he did a great job protecting the rim.”
Xavier jumped Ohio State from the beginning, opening the game on an 8-2 run with the home crowd in its corner. The Buckeyes during that five-minute stretch opened the game a dismal 1-for-10 from the floor.
The only bit of offensive life for the Buckeyes came from Liddell, who opened the game with Ohio State’s first four points.
“I was just trying to do my part,” Liddell said. “I was trying to bring some energy, be that guy. But I mean, just got to be tougher, learn from this. We’re going to watch a lot of film and keep moving.”
Size plagued the Buckeyes, as sophomore forward Zed Key was the tallest starter for Ohio State at 6-foot-8. Xavier on the other hand, had its guards at 6-foot-4 and above with both forwards at 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-11, respectively.
The Buckeyes struggled to get things going down low and had to force 3-point attempts, which they shot 3-for-10 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Xavier’s defense limited Ohio State to just 12 points in the paint in the first half, holding it to a 33 percent clip from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
The Buckeyes also struggled to keep a handle on the ball, turning it over nine times in the first half. This allowed for a lot of Xavier fast break opportunities, which Ohio State struggled with, failing to get back in transition on multiple occasions.
This led to 22 points in the paint for the Musketeers in the first half with four coming on fast-break layups.
“They were driving us and ducking in our big, and they got us on a couple of those actions,” Holtmann said. “They made more layups than we did tonight, and I think that’s an area where we have to play with more force on both ends.”
Coming out of the break trailing 35-26, Ohio State opened on a 7-5 run and looked to have built some momentum thanks to Liddell starting 3-for-3 from the floor, but the Buckeyes went ice cold.
For a 3:57-minute stretch the Buckeyes went scoreless, going 0-for-5 in that time from the floor before senior forward Justin Ahrens was fouled on a 3-point attempt. Ahrens made all three free throws to cut the game to 46-38.
This was all while an Xavier field goal failed to fall in a 2:36-minute stretch, as the Buckeyes missed a huge opportunity to trim its deficit.
Liddell finished with 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting with seven rebounds and a career-high eight blocks.
“I thought that was a phenomenal effort,” Holtmann said. “Eight blocks from that kid’s a phenomenal effort around the rim.”
Graduates forward Kyle Young and guard Jamari Wheeler nailed 3-pointers on back-to-back Ohio State possessions with about 10 minutes to go, slimming Xavier’s lead to six points — the smallest lead the Musketeers held since 14 minutes in the second half.
Every player that logged minutes for the Musketeers scored, as they were paced by four players who were in double figures. Junior forward Jack Nunge and senior guard Paul Scruggs led Xavier with 14 points each, while senior guards Nate Johnson and Adam Kunkel contributed 12 and 10, respectively.
“I, obviously, need to get us tougher,” Holtmann said. “We need to embrace the idea that we need to play a lot tougher.”
The Buckeyes head to Fort Myers, Florida as part of the Fort Myers Tip-Off Games to take on Seton Hall Monday at 6 p.m.
