There was no warm welcome for Ohio State upon returning to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time in 10 years.
| Team | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| #25 OHIO STATE | 29 | 43 | 72 |
| #17 DUKE | 39 | 42 | 81 |
Duke avenged its 2021 loss to the Buckeyes on its home floor Wednesday after suffering an upset defeat in Columbus exactly one year ago. The 17th-ranked Blue Devils returned the favor under first-year head coach Jon Scheyer, beating No. 25 Ohio State 81-72 in Durham, North Carolina.
Early turnovers and foul trouble put Ohio State behind the eight-ball in the first half as the Buckeyes would have needed a double-digit second-half comeback to steal a win in Duke’s backyard. Ohio State stayed within two possessions late behind a career-best scoring night by Zed Key (21 points), who scored 20 in last year’s meeting, but the Buckeyes failed to come all the way back.
Four Buckeyes finished in double figures, but season-scoring leader Brice Sensabaugh had his quietest night of the year in the loss. Ohio State also found little success from 3-point range despite an otherwise solid night shooting.
In a game that tested the depth of both teams due to a high volume of foul calls, Duke’s bench had a distinct advantage over Ohio State as the Blue Devils made more plays in the waning minutes to seal the deal.
Key scored 17 points in the second half alone, but Ohio State never got it closer than a five-point game in the second half.
First Half
Ohio State jumped out to an 8-2 lead early as Sean McNeil scored the first five for the Buckeyes, and Justice Sueing scored the other three before picking up two fouls in the opening three minutes and change.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | DUKE |
|---|---|---|
| 72 | POINTS | 81 |
| 26-55 (47.3%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 25-55 (45.5%) |
| 3-13 (23.1.%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 5-13 (38.5%) |
| 17-22 (77.3%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 26-30 (86.7%) |
| 16 | TURNOVERS | 13 |
| 31 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 34 |
| 12 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 13 |
| 19 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 21 |
| 9 | BENCH POINTS | 26 |
| 4 | BLOCKS | 2 |
| 4 | STEALS | 9 |
| 6 | ASSISTS | 16 |
Duke took its first lead of the night on back-to-back layups by senior forward Jacob Grandison at 15:08, but the Buckeyes answered at the other end. Ohio State still held 16-15 at the under-12-minute media timeout, but both sides traded leads in the preceding possessions.
But turnovers, cold offense and frequent fouls stalled any Buckeye momentum from there. Duke mounted a six-point lead during a stretch in which Ohio State failed to hit a shot for more than four minutes of game time, and that advantage ballooned to double-digits in the final minute before intermission.
Duke closed the half on a 10-3 run to head to the locker room up 39-29 as the Buckeyes committed 10 turnovers and gave up 10 free-throw attempts to the Blue Devils. Ohio State only shot five free throws in the opening half.
Both sides shot around 44% from the field, but Duke scored 18 points off of Ohio State’s turnovers and three Buckeyes (Sueing, Key and Roddy Gayle) finished the half with a pair of fouls apiece.
Second Half
Foul trouble only continued to haunt the Buckeyes early in the final half. Both Sueing and Isaack Likekele picked up their third fouls of the game by the 16:16 mark, which forced two Buckeye starters to take a seat on the bench.
Duke took a 13-point lead shortly thereafter as five-star freshman center Dereck Lively Jr. gashed Ohio State inside, but the Buckeyes kept it competitive. Even after Brice Sensabaugh picked up his fourth foul to turn the ball over at 12:25, Key gave the Buckeyes a boost to stay within striking distance.
Two straight layups by Key, the second an and-one, cut the Duke lead to just five points, 52-47, after the media timeout at 11:54. The Blue Devils scored the next four points, but another interior layup kept Ohio State within two possessions.
Fouls began to pile up on Duke as well, as starting 7-foot freshmen Kyle Filipowski and Lively were both sidelined with four apiece with the Blue Devils clinging to a small lead with less than eight minutes to play.
But Filipowski came back in to convert a crucial and-one for Duke with 2:36 to go, answering a McNeil 3-pointer to put the Blue Devils ahead by eight points.
Duke closed out the contest at the free-throw line as five Blue Devils finished with double-digit scoring totals.
Game Notes
- Exactly one year ago today, Ohio State knocked off then-No. 1 Duke, 71-66, at the Schottenstein Center to hand Coach K the first loss of his final season at the helm of the program.
- Zed Key was the lone returning Buckeye who logged minutes in last year’s win over Duke.
- Wednesday night’s matchup was the ninth all-time between Ohio State and Duke, with the two programs splitting the first four games.
- The Buckeyes last played at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Nov. 28, 2012, with Ohio State losing to the Blue Devils by a five-point margin.
- Wednesday marked just the third time Ohio State has ever played at Duke, with the Buckeyes losing matchups in 2012 and 1966.
- Eugene Brown (concussion) missed his seventh straight game to open the season, and will be out “until otherwise noted,” Chris Holtmann said Tuesday.
- Duke special assistant to the head coach Mike Schrage was an assistant under Holtmann at both Butler and Ohio State.
