JaQuan Lyle walked into the media room at the Schottenstein Center on Wednesday night following Ohio State’s 94-68 blowout win over Rutgers and picked up the stat sheet sitting on the table after he sat down for his postgame press conference.
“Let me look at this,” the Buckeyes’ freshman point guard mumbled to both himself and Jae’Sean Tate, who was sitting directly to Lyle’s left.
As if Lyle didn’t know he just had the first triple-double of his young collegiate career and only the fifth in Ohio State history.
He knew; he just wanted to see the numbers for himself.
“The coaches told me I needed four more [assists] and the guys helped me out with that by finishing the plays,” Lyle admitted when asked if he was aware he was on the cusp of some history. “So, yeah, I knew.”
Lyle finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to help lift Ohio State past the Scarlet Knights. The Buckeyes trailed by two points at halftime, but outscored Rutgers 55-27 in the game’s final 20 minutes.
The best player on the floor was Lyle, the 6-foot-5 freshman combo guard who seems to have some added confidence of late. Prior to Wednesday’s triple-double, Lyle posted a career-high 29 points Sunday when Ohio State fell to Indiana.
“I think with the 11 assists, you look at guys and they were making shots around him and guys were moving off the penetration. That’s being tuned into the game.” Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta said of Lyle’s night. “Guys were running harder in the second half in transition which really opened up a lot of things and I was very pleased to see him play at that level tonight.”
Only three other players have ever recorded triple-doubles in the history of Ohio State’s program. Dennis Hopson had one back in 1986, Evan Turner had a pair in 2009 and D’Angelo Russell recorded one — ironically against Rutgers — last season.
Sure, this was Rutgers. But nonetheless, it’s a rare feat to accomplish.
“It’s just a great thing to do,” Lyle said. “But I’ve just got to keep getting better every day and hopefully I can get another one.”
Matta and Co. would certainly welcome that, but Matta will gladly take the level Lyle is currently playing at for the Buckeyes, too. In five Big Ten games so far — Ohio State is 4-1 — Lyle is averaging 14 points, 7.8 assists and 6.4 rebounds per game, while only committing an average of 2.2 turnovers per contest.
It could be the sign of a freshman turning the corner and Lyle turning into the player many thought he would be when he arrived in Columbus as the most highly-touted of the five recruits in Ohio State’s 2015 class.
“JaQuan, the last couple games, has been playing super great and we need him to continue to do that,” Tate said. “Just staying aggressive and we’ve just got to get on board with him.”
The Buckeyes did just that, joining in on the fun with Lyle in the second half as they quickly turned what looked like a disappointing performance into a rout.
All five of Ohio State’s starters finished in double figures. Tate and Keita Bates-Diop each scored 14 points, Marc Loving had 12 and Trevor Thompson finished with 11, while Kam Williams added 14 of his own off the bench.
The Buckeyes threw a handful of alley-oops, 5-foot-9 point guard A.J. Harris threw down a dunk and Ohio State looked like it was having fun again.
It was almost as if that brutal 25-point loss to the Hoosiers just three days ago never happened.
“It wasn’t a lot of Xs and Os at halftime,” Matta said. “It was more challenging guys to do a better job at what we needed to do, especially on the defensive end.”
The Buckeyes are now 4-1 in the Big Ten — a record which didn’t seem possible when Ohio State was in the midst of a four-game losing streak back in November — as it prepares for a difficult set of back-to-back road games against Maryland and Purdue.
The Buckeyes take on the Terrapins noon Saturday. It will be a difficult task for this youthful group, but also one that presents a team starving for an NCAA tournament bid with a great opportunity.
For Ohio State to have a chance in either of those games, it will need to play like it did during Wednesday’s second half.
Getting another triple-double from Lyle surely wouldn’t hurt the Buckeyes’ chances, either.
“I’m making shots, creating for my teammates and that just comes with confidence from them believing in me,” Lyle said. “Every day in practice, just going hard and getting better as a team. With Keita, Marc, Jae’Sean, Trevor and them all making plays, the lanes begin to open up for me so I’m taking that and then when they do cut me off they’re finishing. If it wasn’t for them, it would be hard to do what I’m doing right now.”
