COLUMBUS — Forwards Jae’Sean Tate and Keita Bates-Diop once again led the Buckeyes on the court, this time in an 80-55 win over Northeastern. Tate got the scoring started in the first 20 minutes by making all seven of his field goal attempts. He finished 10-of-10 from the field for the game and led all scorers with 24 points.
The 10-of-10 was an Ohio State record for most fields made without missing a shot.
Bates-Diop scored 19 points and added seven rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
Ohio State used .630 shooting from the field in the first half to build a 47-17 lead that not even the Penn State football team could lose.
The second half was a much different story, however, but Northeastern couldn’t change enough of the narrative to make the Buckeyes nervous.
Ohio State shot just 11-of-29 (.379) in the second half. Due in part to Northeastern going to a zone defense, and due in part to the Buckeyes simply not executing on offense.
Point guard C.J. Jackson (10) and center Kaleb Wesson (12) also added double figures in scoring for the Buckeyes.
Up next for the Buckeyes is a trip out west to take part in the Phil Knight Invitational Tournament, which will see OSU play Gonzaga in Portland Thursday night around midnight. Win or lose, they will play three games over a four-day stretch.
The Star
Jae’Sean Tate scored 11 points in the first six minutes, hitting all five of his field goal attempts in the process. Over the next three-quarters of the game, he would also make his final five attempts as well. Tate kept his shot attempts inside the paint and as close to the basket as possible. He was able to drive when he wanted against man defenses, and also break Northeastern’s zone defense down from the middle. It was his best game this season by far.
The Unexpected
Kaleb Wesson was pretty physical down low in the second half. He was getting pushed and hacked at times during the second half, and showed some fire a few times in getting his shots up and in. It was good to see, because that’s the kind of attitude that the Buckeyes will need from Wesson moving forward. The schedule is about to get much tougher, and so this Ohio State team will need to get tougher as well.
The Quote
“I was certainly pleased with the start of the game, and really the bulk of the first half. I think that Northeastern can be a really difficult team to play. Their size across the board can present some problems. To play as well as we did in the first half was really good. Having said that, the second half exposed us in some ways that we’ve already been exposed in these last four games. When we don’t play with great attention to detail and maximum effort on the defensive end teams can really make runs on us. We’ve got to play with more consistent effort across the board defensively.” — Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann on his team’s play.
The Box
The Notes
• The game marked the second meeting between Ohio State and Northeastern.
• The series is now tied 1-1.
• The Buckeyes held their opponent to under 20 points in the first half for the first time since Dec. 20, 2016 when they held Youngstown State to 14.
• Ohio State is now 138-11 at Value City Arena when facing non-conference opponents.
• The Buckeyes had a 30-point halftime lead for the first time since Nov. 23, 2012 against UMKC (53-18).
• Ohio State leads the NCAA with 138 home wins since start of 2009-10 season.
• Nine different players scored points for the Buckeyes in the contest.
• Ohio State has outrebounded its opponent in all four games this season.
• Four players Buckeyes scored in double-figures: Jae’Sean Tate (24), Keita Bates-Diop (19), Kaleb Wesson (12), and C.J. Jackson (10).
• Holtmann starts his tenure at Ohio State off with a 4-0 record.
• Jae’Sean Tate scored a career-high 24 points in the contest, shooting a perfect 10-10 from the floor.
• Tate’s 10-for-10 performance sets a Buckeye record for highest field goal percentage in a game with a minimum of 10 attempts.
• Keita Bates-Diop scored 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals for the game.
• Kaleb Wesson scored a career-high 12 points off the bench for the Buckeyes.
[Keita Bates-Diop photo courtesy ohiostatebuckeyes.com]