Upon hearing the news Anthony Lee's missed dunk late in the second half would have been the 15th assist for Ohio State point guard Shannon Scott and tied a school record, Kam Williams and Amir Williams both had the same reaction as they sat at the table for post-game interviews.
"Oooooohhh," they both let out while showcasing expression on their faces.
The Buckeyes were having some light-hearted fun after pasting Marquette, 74-63, on Tuesday evening in a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicated.
Scott wound up with 14 assists with the game — tied for No. 2 all-time in Ohio State's single-game record book behind Aaron Craft's 15 against George Mason in 2011. Scott also finished with eight points and the Buckeyes assisted on 23 of their 32 made field goals.
"I loved Shannon’s demeanor in terms of his push," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "We want him to be aggressive, I think he made great reads getting in transition."
His 14 assists went to an array of teammates, too.
Redshirt freshman Kam Williams came off the bench to score a team-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and a 3-for-4 performance from 3-point range. Amir Williams went 6 for 6 for 12 points, while Sam Thompson and Marc Loving each added 10 to give the Buckeyes four guys in double-figures for the second time this year.
“I just have so many weapons around me, it makes the game a lot easier," Scott said. "Kam came in the game and played great. Amir played well, Sam, Marc, D’Angelo, Jae’Sean, Keita, Trey, Anthony, everybody played well so having so many weapons around me makes the game a lot easier for me.”
If you're keeping track at home, Scott rattled off every player who saw the floor for the Buckeyes.
It's that type of well-rounded effort and balanced offensive attack that Ohio State lacked a season ago.
"They are an outstanding offensive team and we knew that coming into the game," Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "They presented a number of difficulties to defend because they have guys with the ability to score from all five positions."
It was such a well-balanced attack you almost didn't notice Ohio State's best player, D'Angelo Russell, finished with more turnovers (seven) than points (six).
But against the Golden Eagles, Ohio State didn't need Russell to be great. He simply needed to be a role player in an efficient attack guided by the Buckeyes' senior point guard Scott.
“We had a good game, but I feel like our team knows each other and we know that we can play a lot better," Scott said. "We had so many times in this game where we thought we were playing our ‘A’ game and other times we thought we were playing like a ‘C’ or ‘D’ game so we know we can play a lot better, but it was a good win for us.”
