Ohio State had no intentions of letting Marshall stick around Friday night.
Without starting forward Keita Bates-Diop for the third straight game, the Buckeyes dominated the visiting Thundering Herd from the jump, cruising to a 111-70 victory at Value City Arena. With the win, Ohio State improved to 6-0 on the season.
"It feels really good," senior forward Marc Loving said afterward. "We're going on the road and we needed some momentum going on the road. We know we still have a lot of work to do with three or four days left to prepare for Virginia."
| 1 | 2 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MARSHALL | 37 | 33 | 70 |
| OHIO STATE | 60 | 51 | 111 |
The Buckeyes had six players finish in double figures as Loving led the way with 20 points. The senior forward also added 14 rebounds for a double-double.
Kam Williams hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points in his third-straight start in place of Bates-Diop; Micah Potter recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds; Jae'Sean Tate finished with 20 points and nine boards; Trevor Thompson had 15 points and eight rebounds; and JaQuan Lyle scored 12 and dished out six assists for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes hit 10 3-pointers in the game and shot 55 percent from the field. Ohio State also scored 62 points in the paint and grabbed 27 offensive rebounds in the blowout victory.
"We told our guys going into the game that there was going to be a lot of possessions," Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta said. "Marshall is not a team to come down, get in a box, hold up four fingers and call a play. They're going to play fast; that's what they do."
| OHIO STATE | STAT | MARShall |
|---|---|---|
| 111 | POINTS | 70 |
| 45–82 (55%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 26–70 (37%) |
| 10–29 (35%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 13–40 (33%) |
| 11–23 (48%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 5–10 (50%) |
| 10 | TURNOVERS | 15 |
| 61 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 32 |
| 27 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 12 |
| 34 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 20 |
| 30 | BENCH POINTS | 19 |
| 3 | BLOCKS | 1 |
| 8 | STEALS | 3 |
| 22 | ASSISTS | 15 |
Ohio State played its best half of the season in the opening 20 minutes against Marshall. The Buckeyes shot 58 percent from the field, scored 32 points in the paint, averaged 1.622 points per possession and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds en route to a 60-37 lead at halftime.
It was the first time Ohio State scored 60 points in the first half of a game since 1991.
Thompson led the way as he scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in 11 first-half minutes off the bench. Loving finished the opening 20 minutes with 11 points and seven board, Williams scored 11 and Jae'Sean Tate added nine points and seven rebounds for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State had a 13-0 run that really broke things open. Leading 25-14 eight minutes into the game, Loving scored five points and Thompson had four in the spurt that helped the Buckeyes surge ahead. Ohio State's biggest first-half lead was 26 points.
"This has been a good week for this team," Matta said. "I think we've grown in terms of we've gotten better on both sides of the basketball. Are we there yet? No, we're not there. ... But hopefully we're getting a little more confident just in terms of what we're running and how we're running it."
The Buckeyes will next be in action Wednesday when they travel to play seventh-ranked Virginia as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
