Ohio State sophomore center Kaleb Wesson scored a career-high 31 points in just 23 minutes of action in leading the No. 15 Buckeyes (9-1, 2-0) to a grimy 75-56 win over Youngstown State (4-8).
Wesson scored 26 of his points in the second half, going 8-for-8 from the field and 10-of-11 at the free throw line. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
Things did not start out well for the Buckeyes, as Youngstown State began the game on a 9-0 run. The Buckeyes didn’t score until a basket by Wesson with 15:18 remaining in the first half.
Ninety seconds later, YSU built up a 12-point lead thanks to a 3-pointer from Jelani Simmons. The Buckeye offense finally started to come alive, going on a 6-0 run thanks layups from Wesson, Duane Washington, and Andre Wesson.
Ohio State couldn’t get any closer than three points the rest of the first half, however, as the Penguins led 25-22 after 20 minutes. The Buckeyes hit just 1-of-11 3-point attempts and 7-of-29 field goals total. Youngstown State didn’t do much better, hitting 11-of-33 field goal attempts and just 3-of-11 from deep.
The Penguins improved their shooting in the second half, but so did the Buckeyes, and in a big way.
Ohio State made 19 of their 27 field goal attempts in the second half and had 12 assists on their 19 baskets. They also limited Youngstown State to just five rebounds in the second half after coming away with 25 in the first half. The Buckeyes outrebounded YSU 18-5 over the final 20 minutes.
Ohio State finally tied the game at 27-27 with 17:53 to play via a 3-point play from Kaleb Wesson. Another Wesson basket less than a minute later gave the Buckeyes their first lead of the game. Wesson would add another layup 30 seconds later for a 4-point lead.
Point guard Keyshawn Woods dropped in a 3-pointer to build OSU’s lead to seven points and finally give the Buckeyes a sliver of breathing room. Woods scored nine points and had a team-high +24 in plus/minus.
YSU quickly got the lead back down to three points, but the Buckeyes poured some more Wesson on the Penguins and before long they had an 11-point lead and were able to keep Youngstown State at bay the rest of the way.
The Star
This one is obvious — Kaleb Wesson was a blazing star in the second half for the Buckeyes. Imagine having to take final exams the same day the syllabus is handed out. That’s what this game was like for the YSU defense where Wesson was concerned because they had absolutely no answers for him in the second half.
Quick Bits
+ Like most of the Buckeyes, freshman guard Luther Muhammad struggled shooting in the first half. He responded with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the second half, however, and also played his customary defense as well. His two steals were a team high.
+ “I can’t say I didn’t expect we would have some moments where we just don’t have a great understanding of how we need to play. We had a lot of moments like that. We were awful on offense in the first half.” — Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann
+ The plus/minus leaderboard looked like this: Keyshawn Woods +24, CJ Jackson +21, Duane Washington +13, Andre Wesson +12 (-3 teeth), Kaleb Wesson +11.
+ For the second game in a row, Holtmann was unhappy with the ball pressure from his defense. With an offense that can come and go like the Buckeyes have, the defense has to be a constant, and it hasn’t been. It needs to get better.
The Postgame
Youngstown State
Posted by The Ozone on Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Kaleb Wesson and CJ Jackson
Posted by The Ozone on Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Chris Holtmann
Posted by The Ozone on Tuesday, December 18, 2018
The Box Score
