Ohio State found fewer advantages than some might have expected during its matchup with Cornell in the first round of the NIT.
Facing the mid-major Ivy League foe, the Buckeyes trailed in the final minute of action before pulling out an 88-83 victory. Cornell shot 49.3% from the field and 83.3% at the free-throw line to Ohio State’s 42.7% and 59.1%.
Where Ohio State ultimately found an edge was in the rebounding department.
“Rebounding, we knew it was gonna be very important, and we felt like it was an advantage for us,” Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said. “I thought our guys stepped up.”
The Buckeyes pulled in 51 boards to the Big Red’s 32, grabbing 22 on the offensive end for 15 second-chance points, pushing them past a hard-cutting, shooting-oriented Cornell team.
“Coming into the game, we knew that we needed to set the tone on the offensive glass,” Roddy Gayle Jr. said. “We knew that they were bottom of their league in defensive rebounds, so we tried to exploit that and make that one of our goals heading into the game. Guys like Felix (Okpara), Evan (Mahaffey), Jamison (Battle) got in there, even I tried to make my mark on the glass.”
Cornell gave the Buckeyes fits with their five-out structure, Diebler said, spacing the floor with 32 three-point attempts to provide their slashing guards and wings room to slice to the basket.
“We kind of got diced up on backdoor cuts,” Battle said. “It was an emphasis, but coming off of one day of prep, having one day to have live reps against something like that and a team like that who’s very well-coached, very disciplined, it’s obviously a tough assignment. But we found a way to figure it out. And it’s the NIT as well. There’s gonna be great teams who want to compete, who want to have a chance to play for a championship at the end of the season.”
Ohio State faced other challenges in the roster department. Wing Scotty Middleton missed Tuesday’s game while tending to a family matter. Then, with a little more than 10 minutes to play, star point guard Bruce Thornton sustained an ankle sprain and missed the rest of the contest after scoring nine points with four assists.
“I think we handled it pretty well,” Battle said. “I think that’s something that’s a testament to coaching, it’s a testament to us rallying around each other because we’ve had opportunities where guys are hurt. ... We don’t really let that affect us, because in the end, even if Bruce is out, he’s gonna be the biggest cheerleader on the side. ... Coach always preaches that family aspect, and that’s what we are. When one family member is down, you’ve gotta rally around them, you’ve got to rally around each other to make sure that you get the job done.”
So the Buckeyes stepped up to the plate on the glass.
Eight different Ohio State players pulled in at least four boards, Battle leading the charge with eight. Okpara grabbed seven rebounds, all on the offensive end, while Gayle added seven of his own.
Gayle, the team’s shooting guard, has had at least seven rebounds in three of his last six games.
“I thought it was great, both sides of the ball,” Diebler said. “We were able to finish plays and get on the offensive glass. Felt that was an area we needed to be aggressive and assert ourselves, was on the offensive glass. Obviously, Felix set the tone with that.”
Rebounding has been a significant issue for Ohio State at times this season. They’ve been out-boarded by at least four in their last four losses, the most stark discrepancy coming at Wisconsin on Feb. 13 when the Badgers bested the Buckeyes 39-26 on the glass.
On the season, Ohio State has grabbed the same number of rebounds as its opponents, each with 1,258 total – or 37 per game.
The Buckeyes now hope to sustain their rebounding edge and maintain some of the offense that led to an 88-point outpouring despite subpar shooting numbers against the Big Red moving into the second round of the NIT. As a No. 2 seed, they will host third-seeded Virginia Tech fresh off a win for the Hokies over sixth-seeded Richmond.
Virginia Tech is 331st in college basketball with 32.2 rebounds per game, though part of that is due to a slow pace, as its opponents only haul in 31.7 per contest. The game will occur at 7 p.m. on Saturday and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
“For a lot of the guys on this team, it’s their first postseason experience,” Diebler said. “Proud of how we were able to get a win. I think that first game is so tough. Certainly, we had big aspirations toward the end of the season (of) making the NCAA Tournament, but our guys talked and felt like they wanted to pursue this postseason and our guys played hard. This was a unique game. You saw (Cornell’s) effort, you saw their toughness, you saw their togetherness. But our guys were locked in.”
