Ohio State needed most of the night to shake free, but a 13-0 run midway through the second half finally did it, and the Buckeyes beat Youngstown State 89-65 on Friday night, Nov. 6, in their home opener at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, according to Reuters. The win was Ohio State’s first of the season, lifting the Buckeyes to 1-1.
John Mobley Jr. led Ohio State with 25 points, while Andrija Jelavic scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, Reuters reported. Amare Bynum added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Justin Pippen scored 10 for the Buckeyes.
Youngstown State refused to go away early. The Penguins trailed just 38-33 at halftime and cut the margin to a single point, 53-52, with 10:32 to play, according to Reuters. That was as close as the upset bid got: Jelavic scored seven points and Bynum six during the 13-0 run that followed, and a Bynum slam capped it at 66-52 with 7:56 remaining.
Ohio State outscored Youngstown State 51-32 in the second half and, according to The Columbus Dispatch, closed the game on a 36-13 margin over the final 10:20 in front of 10,768 fans. The Buckeyes also feasted at the foul line, hitting 29 of 34 free throws (85.3 percent) while the Penguins made 10 of 17, Reuters reported.
Japhet Moupadele led Youngstown State (1-1) with 16 points, Columbus native Dom Aekins scored a career-high 13 and Linus Holmstrom contributed 12, according to Reuters. The Penguins, a Horizon League program, showed no awe of the Big Ten stage early, but the Buckeyes’ size took over late, with Jelavic and Bynum combining for 17 rebounds.
The Dispatch noted that Jelavic called the way Ohio State closed the game the blueprint for how the Buckeyes want to play. The win also extended a long run of home dominance against in-state opponents: Ohio State has not lost a home game to an Ohio foe since Dec. 22, 1994, when Bowling Green won 59-50, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Ohio State, which opened the season with a loss at BYU, returns to the Schottenstein Center quickly. The Buckeyes host Marshall on Monday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m., according to Sports Illustrated’s recap of the game, giving the home crowd another early look at a frontcourt that carried Friday night’s finish.
Photo: Cbusram, CC BY-SA 4.0