Buckeyes fifth-year guard Micah Parrish elevates over Huskies senior guard Luis Kortright for a jumper during Ohio State’s 93-69 win over Washington Wednesday night at the Schottenstein Center.
Credit: Liam Ahern | Lantern Photographer
It was buzzer-to-buzzer domination for the Buckeyes on Wednesday night.
Ohio State (15-10, 7-7 Big Ten) annihilated Washington (12-12, 2-10 Big Ten) 93-69 thanks to a near-60% field goal percentage and 11 3-pointers to win its third-straight game at the Schottenstein Center.
The 93-point outing marked the first time Ohio State has eclipsed 90 points in conference play this season.
“We prepared well, and it was good to see our preparation carry over,” head coach Jake Diebler said. “It was a complete team effort which you love to see.”
The Buckeyes found early success down low, with their first eight points coming in the paint.
Sophomore Devin Royal — who’s coming off an ankle injury he suffered against Nebraska —doubled that total quickly with back-to-back buckets, including a finish on a lob from guard Bruce Thornton to give the Buckeyes a 6-2 lead less than three minutes in.
Freshman John Mobley notched the first 3-pointer for Ohio State, burying a three to put the Buckeyes up 11-8 going into the first TV timeout. Mobley continued his playmaking, assisting on a lob to forward Aaron Bradshaw before he rattled home a three in isolation on the next possession to put the Buckeyes up eight.
Thornton was in the stat sheet early with two assists and scored his first points with nearly 10 minutes in on an and-1 finger-roll. Following a put-back from forward Sean Stewart, Mobley forced Washington to burn its first timeout of the half after he canned a three to put the Buckeyes up 12, turned around and seemingly taunted the Huskie bench.
“The opposing team was talking trash a little bit and we feed off that,” Mobley said. “That was a big mistake on their part.”
The Buckeyes stalled later in the first half as they turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions and struggled on the offensive end. That was until Bradshaw drilled his second three-pointer of the half, the first time in his career that he has converted on multiple threes in a game.
After a nearly two-minute scoring drought that saw Washington pull within single digits, guard Micah Parrish —who has been the hot-hand for the Buckeyes — drilled a 3-pointer while he was fouled and nearly a minute later converted on another and-1 to give the Buckeyes a 46-31 lead minutes before the half.
Parrish continued his stellar first-half play with a buzzer-beating assist to Mobley, who hit his fourth three-pointer, followed by another jumper to give Ohio State a 17-point lead with just over a minute to play, its largest of the half.
The Buckeyes then put an exclamation mark on their dominating first half with guard Evan Mahaffey delivering back-to-back thunderous blocks on Huskies forward Great Osobor.
Ohio State went into the half with a 15-point lead as it scored a whopping 51 points on 66%shooting, with the backcourt duo of Parrish and Mobley combining for 26.
The final 20 minutes was all Ohio State, too.
Out of the break, Royal and Thornton combined for nine points in the first four minutes.,
Then Stewart sent a layup from Washington guard Tyree Ihenacho halfway up the bleachers in a volleyball-esque swat that sparked the energy of the home fans.
After a timeout, Bradshaw connected on a mid-range jumper with 13:09 left to put Ohio State up 19. The sophomore big man, who finished with 12 points, shot a perfect 5-5 from the floor, putting up one of his best games as a Buckeye.
“I was real comfortable,” Bradshaw said, “I just took everything that we went [over] in practice and just applied it to the court, and the best outcome came.”
With 12:37 remaining, Mahaffey put the Buckeyes up 21 with a jumper and Ohio State didn’t let its lead dip below 20 for the remainder of the game.
However, the Buckeye faithful delivered boos as the team fell one assist shy of free Chick-Fil-A.
“I like free chicken, I do, but I also love the game,” Diebler said. “I appreciate the energy from [the crowd].”
Ohio State will play No. 20 Michigan in a rivalry matchup at the Schottenstein Center on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The nature of the rivalry is significant, especially for Mobley.
“Growing up here, I’ve never really liked Michigan,” Mobley said. “We need that one.”
