At halftime of Thursday’s game between Ohio State and Providence, JaQuan Lyle was going through warmups with his teammates, bouncing around and singing along as Rick Ross’ ‘Box Chevy’ blared from the loudspeakers at Value City Arena.
Lyle, the Buckeyes talented but inconsistent point guard, just played his best half of the season. He scored 15 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists as Ohio State led the Friars by 10 points. In layup lines, he was high-fiving every teammate. There was an added pep in his step.
The Buckeyes got the good JaQuan Lyle on Thursday night.
It makes Ohio State that much better.
Lyle finished the evening with 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Buckeyes came away with a 72-67 victory to move to 3-0 on the season. It was Lyle’s best game of the year by far and, as a result, it was Ohio State’s best game too.
“I was more aggressive on both sides of the basketball and I think with me being more aggressive on the defensive side, it got me going on the offensive side,” Lyle said afterward. “This week in practice, my teammates, the coaching staff, they all kept believing in me and kept my confidence up.”
Lyle’s confidence was down a bit because of the way he performed in Ohio State’s first two games of the season. In the opener against Navy, he had just three points and two assists in 13 minutes as he watched the final 17-plus minutes of the game from the bench as C.J. Jackson ran the show at point guard. A few days later against N.C. Central, Lyle scored just five points and sat the final 14-plus minutes in favor of Jackson.
On Thursday, however, it was totally different. He attacked from the get-go and was unguardable — particularly in the first half. The Friars simply didn’t have an answer for the Ohio State point guard.
“He looked like Magic Johnson in the first half,” Providence head coach Ed Cooley joked of Lyle afterward.
Well, maybe not quite.
But the point remains: When Lyle plays like he did Thursday night, Ohio State is simply a much better basketball team. So, it raises the question: Why doesn’t Lyle just do that every time he steps on the floor?
“That’s a good question,” Lyle said. “With me, it’s just a mental mindset. I’ve got to come in with the same mindset every game. I need to prep the same way I prepped this game. I was in the gym a lot extra, watched a lot of film and just kept my confidence up by doing that.”
Added Ohio State head coach Thad Matta: “I thought JaQuan played like he’s capable of playing. … I thought he was more aggressive and as I told the team afterward, he actually played some defense tonight which was exciting to see.”
Lyle wasn’t alone, of course, in this victory over the Friars. Jae’Sean Tate scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds; Trevor Thompson added 12 points and nine boards off the bench; Marc Loving scored eight points and snared 10 rebounds; Keita Bates-Diop chipped in eight points before leaving with an ankle injury.
It was an all-around solid performance by an Ohio State team that needed one in the worst way.
It was spearheaded, however, by the talented sophomore point guard.
“Tonight, I had a good game, but I can’t be satisfied,” Lyle said. “Gotta keep working and come out Monday and get a win.”
