Buckeyes Blow Past Youngstown State 81-47 In Home Opener

COLUMBUS — Five Buckeye scorers were in double figures in Monday night’s home-opening 81-47 win over Youngstown State, moving No. 21 Ohio State to 2-0 on the season. The Penguins dropped to 1-1.

Freshman guard John Mobley, Jr. scored a career-high and game-high 16 points, and Kentucky transfer center Aaron Bradshaw added 16 points as well, finishing one point short of his career high — which was set in the second game of the season last year. Bradshaw also pulled down eight rebounds, blocked two shots, and had a steal.

Duke transfer forward Sean Stewart scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Starting guards Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Johnson made 3-of-5 from three-point territory.

It didn’t take long for the Buckeyes to open their first double-digit lead as Bradshaw got things going with a dunk and then a three-pointer. Johnson and Stewart added a three and a dunk of their own, respectively, and then Johnson dropped in a layup on the fast break to make it 12-2 with 14-10 left in the first half.

It wasn’t long after that when John Mobley, Jr. entered the game for the Buckeyes. He quickly sank his only two three-point attempts of the half, moving his season total to six three-pointers made in six attempts. Mobley’s second three made it 18-8.

Ohio State’s first half lead grew to 37-22 following a jumper by guard Ques Glover. A three-point attempt at the buzzer for Johnson rimmed out.

Bradshaw scored nine first-half points after scoring just two total in the season-opening win over Texas last week. He then opened the second half with a driving layup past 7-foot-3 Youngstown State center Gabe Dynes. Less than two minutes later, Bradshaw dropped in a hook shot over Dynes to make it 43-24.

Mobley’s third three-pointer in as many attempts gave the Buckeyes a 57-29 lead with 13:02 remaining. He then followed that up with a conventional three-point play after being fouled while hitting a baseline layup. Mobley’s first-career three-point miss came via an off-balance baseline attempt off of an out of bounds play.

The Ohio State lead grew as large as 35 points before finishing at the final total of 81-47.

The Buckeyes shot 31-of-56 from the field (.554) and 10-of-22 from three-point range (.455). They outrebounded Youngstown State 41-29.

Up next for Ohio State is a Friday night trip to Texas A&M with a tip-time set of 9:00 pm Eastern. The game will be aired on the SEC Network.

Postgame Updates

Jake Diebler

Starts off by thanking the veterans on Veteran’s Day.
Have to find a way to rebound the ball better defensively and get more shots.
“You got a glimpse of the depth we have.”
The focus on turnovers this week: They’re turning it over too much but it’s a fine line because he doesn’t want them to play safe. They have to play aggressively and with confidence, but 15 turnovers tonight is too many. What Diebler is trying to do right now with the pace is not what these guys have done before.
“I like Meechie’s aggressiveness.” Still probably needs to slow down a little bit. They want him to attack and read the paint. He’s got good assist numbers in practice. It’s only a matter of time until he gets it cleaned up.
Aaron Bradshaw was active on both sides of the ball. He was more poised offensively. It helped that he wasn’t in foul trouble like the Texas game.
They have to be better at fouling. “Clearly I have to be a better official in practice.” They need to eliminate some of the careless fouls where they’re out of position and they bail out the offense.
What has been impressive about John Mobley, Jr. is how the team has embraced what he can do for them. That takes a great deal of maturity. “He has a mentality where he is wired to score. Plays with a great deal of confidence.” It’s very important for the team and will continue to be.
There are some non-negotiables when it comes to playing time. You have to keep finishing, and if you don’t, then you’ll get pulled from the game. It’s not a problem right now but there were just a couple of plays here and there where they have to be a team where they don’t let up on any possession. Mobley was pulled after a three-point play because he didn’t box out on the earlier defensive possession. He has worked hard on that aspect, and it doesn’t fluster him when he gets pulled for things like that.
Different guys stepped up tonight compared to the Texas game. It’s a real weapon for this team. They had 16 assists on 31 field goals. They move the ball and there are a number of scorers on the court at all times.
They are monitoring all player minutes and player load. They were able to give Bruce Thornton some breaks here and there, but he also had some foul trouble in the first half. They didn’t go into this game thinking they wanted to play Thornton less tonight. (He had 26 minutes.)
“The exciting thing about this team is that we have room to grow.” There is a lot of newness with this team and coaching staff. They are still building chemistry. They’re off to a great start, but some of the turnovers are a result of lack of playing together.
“I trust our guard play.” There are multiple guys who can start the offense.
Ques Glover’s ball pressure was impactful.
On walk-on Braylen Nash’s three-pointer and subsequent celebration: “I thought it was a great pass.” The walk-ons have an important impact on this team. “I love when those guys can go in and get some success.” The reactions showed the connection this team has. “I’m not sure what some of these celebrations are.”
On playing guys with multiple fouls in the first half: You want to give them an opportunity to experience playing with fouls in the first half. It will pay off down the road. Even though Devin Royal picked up a third foul in the first half, he played with poise.
“I thought our post-defense was better. There’s some technical things that we’re working on that isn’t translating as quickly as I’d like.”
Tomorrow, they’ll finish this game and start the transition into Texas A&M with the players. Learn from tonight and improve on it, but also acknowledge what they did well and how does it transition into Friday night. “I think this team has consistently prepared well. We’re excited to go on the road.”

Aaron Bradshaw

Jake Diebler has been harping on certain things in practice. Turnovers, rebounding, moving on.
On having a better game this time than the Texas: “I don’t really look at my stats or anybody else’s stats. I just look at the W column.”
What about this offense helps your skill set: “We just play fast.” It’s a free-flowing offense and the ball moves quickly. They also produce offense of defense.

Sean Stewart

The way they were practicing and getting after it, you’d think they were coming into this game off of a loss.
On the slow start against Texas: Move on to the next game. Flush it. Get ready for the next game.
There is a lot of depth on the backcourt and frontcourt, so if anybody gets tired, there’s someone to come in.
When shots are falling for him, it helps him relax and not be so nervous. It was good to finally get things working in the right direction.
Looking forward to Friday at Texas A&M. That’s a game you came here to play in. “Super excited.”