Opening the regular season on the road for the first time in Thad Matta's tenure, Ohio State shook of a slow start to pull away from undersized Navy, 78-68. The Buckeyes led by only five points at the half, but shot a blistering 55.6 percent from behind the arc to move to 1-0.
Forward Keita Bates-Diop was arguably the best player on the floor, pulling down a team-high 14 rebounds to go with 14 points. Guard Kam Williams, meanwhile, was 7-for-9 from the field and 5-for-6 behind the three-point line to add a game-high 23 points.
Freshman guard C.J. Jackson came off the bench to spell sophomore JaQuan Lyle, who struggled in the first half. Jackson was held without a basket from the field, but led the team with nine assists in 27 minutes on the floor. Lyle, on the other hand, scored only three points and sat on the bench for most of the second half.
The Buckeyes are back in action on Monday against North Carolina Central. Tip off of the home opener is scheduled for 9 p.m. at Value City Arena at The Jerome Schottenstein Center.
Check out photos from the game above.
