COLUMBUS — Ohio State moved to 3-0 on the season with an 82-64 win over Texas Southern (0-3) as Jae’Sean Tate, Keita Bates-Diop, and Micah Potter each paced the Buckeyes with 17 points Thursday night.
The points in the paint were a welcome sight for head coach Chris Holtmann, who announced to his team during warmups that freshman center Kaleb Wesson had been suspended for the game.
Potter, who had split minutes with Wesson pretty evenly so far this season, responded with his career-high 17 points in 31 minutes of play. He did much of his damage against 7-foot-2 TSU center Trayvon Reed, who only blocked one shot on the night.
For the third time in three games, Bates-Diop recorded a double-double for the Buckeyes, adding a dozen rebounds to his 17 points.
Ohio State made a change in the starting lineup prior to the game, inserting freshman shooting guard Musa Jallow in place of senior Kam Williams. Jallow responded with a tremendous all-around game, scoring 13 points, grabbing six rebounds, and picking up four steals. One of TSU’s most effective plays was a pick-and-roll that would lead to an alley oop to Reed. Jallow swatted away two of those attempts on the night.
The Buckeyes took control of the game fairly early, leading 42-29 at the half. If they had any plans of coasting from that point on, Texas Southern made them rethink those plans with a 20-5 run that cut OSU’s lead to just two points at 59-57. The Tigers even had an opportunity to take the lead, but a three-point attempt by Robert Lewis missed the mark.
Following that miss, the Buckeyes regrouped and went on a 13-0 run, and eventually closed the game on a 23-7 run.
In the past, that regrouping may not have happened, and it wasn’t lost on the players.
“Well, you learn from your mistakes,” Potter said after the game. “Over the past couple of years we very well may have lost that game. Coach was just saying that this is exactly what we want when we were in the huddle. There’s always going to be times of adversity, especially with a brand new team and a brand new staff like we have, and it’s up to us to lock down and go through that adversity.”
After having turnover problems in the first two games, OSU cut that number down to just 10 against Texas Southern.
Three-point shooting continues to be a problem, however, as the Buckeyes finished 9-of-28, including a combined 2-of-13 by C.J. Jackson and Kam Williams. Jackson was 1-of-9 on his own. Holtmann has said in the past that Jackson is a good shooter and they want him to shoot.
Playing against the zone for all 40 minutes tonight, the Buckeyes needed Jackson to hit those shots.
This was the first time all season that TSU played zone for any extended amount of time. They were missing their best player — guard Demontrae Jefferson — due to suspension, and they also felt that the zone would work best against OSU’s shooting.
The Star
The star once again was forward Keita Bates-Diop. His third double-double cemented that. He also added 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range, including some key buckets when Texas Southern was feeling their oats. Jae’Sean Tate deserves some special mention as well, however, because he was instrumental in stopping the TSU run and turning the momentum around.
The Unexpected
About 45 minutes before the game, Ohio State announced that freshman center Kaleb Wesson was suspended for this game due to a failure to meet team expectations regarding time management. It would have been nice to see Wesson on the court to see him play against Texas Southern’s 7-foot-2 center Trayvon Reed. As it was, Micah Potter got most of the available minutes and fared pretty well. Reed spent much of the first half in foul trouble, but was definitely a factor in the second half.
The Quote
“He took it really well. Kaleb is a great kid and this is a part of maturation for freshman. Today is when I finalized my decision along with our coaching staff. He is very important in what we are doing, obviously we really could have used him. He would have been really effective in tackling some of the zone here tonight, but he responded great and I heard him more than anyone else on the bench, which was great to see.” — Chris Holtmann on how Kaleb Wesson handled being suspended before the game.
The Box Score
The Notes
• The game marked the seventh meeting between Ohio State and Texas Southern.
• The Buckeyes now hold a 7-0 record against Texas Southern.
• The Buckeyes are 3-0 on the season when leading at the half.
• Ohio State has outrebounded its opponent in all three games this season.
• The Buckeyes are now 9-0 in games in which Keita Bates-Diop records a double-double.
• Ohio State made a season-high nine 3-pointers in the contest.
• Vince O’Brien, athletic trainer for the Ohio State men’s basketball team, worked his final game Thursday after 24 years at Ohio State, the last 17 with the men’s basketball program. O’Brien, a member of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Hall of Fame, will begin work with the OSU Crane Sports Medicine Center in December.
• Holtmann starts his tenure at Ohio State off with a 3-0 record.
• Bates-Diop led the Buckeyes in rebounding and tied for the team lead in scoring netting 17 points and pulling down 12 boards.
• Recorded his third double-double of the season, bringing his career total to nine.
• Jackson’s nine assists tied a career high previously set Nov. 11, 2016 against Navy.
• Jallow set career marks in minutes played with 29, points with 13, and steals with four in the contest.
• Potter scored career-high 17 points in the game, topping his previous career high of 13.
[C.J. Jackson photo courtesy ohiostatebuckeyes.com]