COLUMBUS — Led by a career-high 25 points from senior point guard C.J Jackson, Ohio State (2-0) notched their second win of the season, this one in stellar fashion with a 107-61 win over Purdue Fort Wayne (1-1).
Jackson led all scorers on the day, and also chipped in six rebounds and a game-high five assists. Jackson hit 8-of-11 field goals for the game and 4-of-7 from three-point territory.
Jackson was not the only standout in the Buckeye backcourt, however, as freshman guards Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington made an impact as well. Washington scored a career-high 20 points, hitting 6-of-9 from three-point range. Muhammad scored a career-high 12 points, and also stifled Purdue Fort Wayne leading scorer John Konchar.
Konchar came into the game averaging 21 points per game, but Muhammad was instrumental in limiting him to just 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
The game began evenly enough, tied at zero, but what became a back-and-forth affair in the first half, soon got out of hand with the Buckeyes outscoring the Mastodons 66-27 in the second half.
“You’ve got to be able to play two halves,” Purdue head coach Jon Coffman said after the game. “You’ve got to be able to play 40 minutes. You’ve got to be able to face some adversity. I thought our group tonight got caught up in focusing on the past too much. That’s where we dropped it. We were not a very good team in that second half. It’s got an opportunity to be a great lesson, but it’s only going to be a great lesson if they learn from it and they get better.”
Ohio State’s second-half lead was just five points for a blink of an eye, but it was up to 14 points following an 11-2 run over a two-minute stretch. Jackson hit a pair of three-pointers in those two minutes. The lead then hit 21 points about five minutes later following a layup by Muhammad. A layup from Kaleb Wesson a few minutes later made it 73-43.
The largest lead of the game was 48 points, when the Buckeyes led 107-59 following a free throw by freshman forward Jaedon LeDee. LeDee saw his first action as a Buckeye, scoring 16 points and grabbing 4 rebounds in 17 minutes of play.
The Star
C.J. Jackson was in complete control throughout the game and never forced his shot. He was equally as effective on the drive as he was from the perimeter. He hit 4-of-7 from deep, but also hit all four of his field goals from inside the arc.
Quick Thoughts
+ It is impossible not to get excited about the Ohio State freshman guards. Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington play with a level of confidence that they shouldn’t have, yet they do. Chris Holtmann said after the game that they will have their slumps, but their energy has been a valued addition to this team.
+ Andre Wesson took a bad fall late in the first half, but returned in the second half. He didn’t play much because he had four fouls. Holtmann then also declined to put him back in the game because he had been tightening up. Holtmann does not expect this to be a lingering issue for Wesson.
+ Musa Jallow may not look for his shot or be comfortable asking to do so, but his plus-minus of +29 was the second-highest mark on the team (behind Duane Washington’s +31). If you’re wondering, +/- (plus-minus) is how much the team outscored the opponent or got outscored by the opponent while a particular player was in the game. For instance, OSU outscored Purdue Fort Wayne by 29 points when Jallow was in the game. Jallow only scored five points and he grabbed five rebounds. Sometimes, however, the +/- is also an indicator that a player was in the game when everybody else got hot.
+ The Buckeyes hit 15-of-28 three-point attempts. Chris Holtmann said he didn’t expect his team to attempt that many threes on a regular basis, but Purdue Fort Wayne was focused on defending Kaleb Wesson, which left open shooters thanks to good ball movement. Holtmann knows that other teams will attempt to defend them this way down the road, so there will be other games that feature a good number of perimeter attempts.
+ Up next for the Buckeyes is a road game this Thursday at Creighton (2-0).
Postgame Press Conference
Chris Holtmann
C.J. Jackson and Luther Muhammad
Purdue Fort Wayne head coach Jon Coffman
Box Score
