COLUMBUS — The game won’t count in the standings, but the Chris Holtmann era finally got underway at Ohio State with the Buckeyes securing an 88-63 win over Division III Wooster on Sunday.
Ohio State was led in scoring by junior forward Keita Bates-Diop with 17 points. He showed great touch inside the three-point arc, dropping in five of his six two-point field goal attempts. He also led the team with nine rebounds and two blocks.
The Buckeyes opened the game on a 12-0 run before Wooster finally got on the board with a three-pointer from Simon Texidor. Ohio State eventually opened their lead to 19 points late in the first half.
The second half of the game was an up-and-down shootout, with the Buckeyes outscoring the Scots 49-41.
One week ago, Holtmann said he did not know what his starting five would look like, but he ended up going with the expected lineup of forwards Jae’Sean Tate and Bates-Diop, along with guards C.J. Jackson and Kam Williams, with sophomore Micah Potter at center.
Six new Buckeyes made their debuts, including freshmen Kaleb Wesson, Kyle Young, and Musa Jallow. Wesson scored 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
Former Michigan guard Andrew Dakich led OSU with a team-high 24 minutes played and five assists.
The Buckeyes recently played well in a scrimmage against Xavier, but they were not able to match that performance Sunday against Wooster.
“I think we certainly shot it more efficiently against Xavier, and that clouds things, but I think we played hard both times,” Holtmann said. “We had a much cleaner game against Xavier and we were tougher for stretches, and we didn’t turn it over. We weren’t sloppy with the ball here like we were tonight. I was disappointed with that.”
OSU shot 43.9% from the field, but was just 3-of-24 from three-point range.
“We had a few forced shots for sure, but we also had missed some shots where guys where wide open and just missed them,” Holtmann said. “Once we were able to see a few go down that was good for us, but hopefully we won’t have too many nights where we shoot it like that both from the line and behind the line.”
The next night for the Buckeyes will be the season opener Friday night at Value City Arena. Tip off against Robert Morris is slated for 7pm on BTN Plus.
[Photo courtesy ohiostatebuckeyes.com]