Devin Royal is on track to become Ohio State royalty the way he's been scoring the ball.
The Buckeye sophomore forward set his fourth career-high in points this season in easily his most impressive showing yet against Valparaiso, finding little trouble handling the Beacons' big men in a 31-point outburst. He shot a blistering 11-of-16 from the field.
He's Royal(ty)
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) December 18, 2024
The First Buckeye since Jared Sullinger to have a 30 point / 15 rebound game: Devin Royal pic.twitter.com/M94O6uvvp2
Royal added a career-high 15 rebounds as Ohio State (7-4) glided past Valparaiso (5-5), the alma mater of head coach Jake Diebler, 95-73.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| VALPARAISO | 30 | 43 | 73 |
| OHIO STATE | 41 | 54 | 95 |
Guards Evan Mahaffey, Micah Parrish and Bruce Thornton provided Royal with some support. Mahaffey collected 15 points while Parrish and Thornton each had 14. Thornton added six assists to the effort.
Valparaiso guard All Wright collected 22 points in a losing performance.
First Half
After an 0-for-4 start from the field for Ohio State, Thornton broke through with a right-wing triple and a layup to give the Buckeyes their first lead at 5-3. But Valparaiso hung around early.
Beacon guard Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro collected a quick six points and forward Cooper Schweiger knocked down a triple from the top of the key to give the Beacons a 12-8 lead. Royal and Thornton combined to even the score at 14, Valparaiso regained the edge briefly at 16-14, but finally, Ohio State started gaining some separation.
Buckeye guard John Mobley Jr. canned two threes, one on the wing from NBA range and one that made his defender look downright silly on a crossover dribble and stepback. Parrish added four points during what became a 10-0 run for the Buckeyes as the Beacons went more than seven minutes without scoring.
Royal converted a 3-point play the old-fashioned way to hold the lead at 29-20. Valparaiso cut the lead to 29-24, Royal responded with a two-handed flush and an alley-oop finish, one off a clean feed from Mobley and the other a crisp pass from Parrish.
The Buckeyes closed the half in style. Royal cashed in another layup and the Beacons tried to inbound the ball quickly with less than 20 seconds remaining. But Parrish leaped in to steal the pass and knock down an and-one layup.
Royal finished the first half with 18 points, already just four shy of his caree- high, as Ohio State carried a 41-30 lead into halftime.
Second Half
| OHIO STATE | STAT | VALPARAISO |
|---|---|---|
| 95 | POINTS | 73 |
| 33-61 (54.1%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 24-67 (35.8%) |
| 6-19 (31.6%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 5-24 (20.8%) |
| 23-27 (85.2%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 20-23 (87%) |
| 10 | TURNOVERS | 10 |
| 38 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 33 |
| 9 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 13 |
| 29 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 20 |
| 20 | BENCH POINTS | 10 |
| 2 | BLOCKS | 4 |
| 7 | STEALS | 2 |
| 13 | ASSISTS | 5 |
Royal took 12 seconds to drive right to the rim and drop in another basket. With a pair of free throws and a putback layup, he set his career-high with 24 points as nearly 17 minutes still remained to play. It's the fourth career-high he's set in scoring this season.
A post-spin layup from Royal extended Ohio State's lead to 56-39. Three more points followed from Royal before Mahaffey made a layup, stole the ensuing in-bounds pass and dished it to Micah Parrish to draw a foul and hit two free throws.
Two more from the charity stripe courtesy of center Austin Parks and a Thornton layup capped an 8-0 run for Ohio State, expanding its lead to 69-48.
Mahaffey kept his strong night going with a dunk, a baby hook and a layup. Forward Sean Stewart got in on the action, zooming coast-to-coast for a transition layup, getting open for a two-handed slam and knocking down another layup with a foul to push the lead to 31 at 85-54.
Royal exited to a standing ovation with 4:24 to play. Mobley hit his third 3-pointer as Ohio State put its seventh victory of the season on ice, then the benches emptied with 2:43 remaining.
EVERY SINGLE ONE of @OhioStateHoops Devin Royal's career-high 31 points in the Buckeyes' 95-73 win over Valparaiso. pic.twitter.com/NGo4j3de0v
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) December 18, 2024
What's Next?
Ohio State plays the last of its five power conference opponents in its non-conference schedule, facing a daunting No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday in Madison Square Garden as part of the CBS Sports Classic. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m. on CBS.
Game Notes
- Ohio State was without four major contributors on Tuesday. Ques Glover and Colin White remain out with injuries, Aaron Bradshaw is still working his way back to the court after being out for five games while under university investigation for a domestic incident and Meechie Johnson Jr. is taking a leave of absence for a personal matter.
- Mobley started for the first time in his career in Johnson's place.
- Thornton found some foul trouble in the first half, picking up three personals, then left the team's bench to head to the locker room for an unspecified reason in the second half. He returned to the floor later.
- Ohio State forward Kalen Etzler was among those to see minutes at the end of the contest, and he knocked down the third 3-pointer of his career.
