No. 15 Ohio State (11-1, 2-0) scored 47 points in the second half and held UCLA (7-5) to 36 in their 80-66 win at the United Center in Chicago Saturday afternoon.
Senior point guard CJ Jackson scored 20 points for the Buckeyes in the second half and fellow senior point guard Keyshawn Woods dished out 10 assists for Ohio State in a rare start.
The Buckeyes didn’t shoot lights out, or dominate on the boards, but what they did extremely well was move the ball and finish. Ohio State assisted on 26 of their 28 made field goals. The only two that weren’t assisted were a put-back by sophomore forward Kyle Young and a breakaway dunk by freshman guard Luther Muhammad.
The Buckeyes finished this game in a flourish, but it was a very slow start for the men of Scarlet and Gray.
UCLA’s first two baskets came from dunks by center Moses Brown, while Ohio State’s first five points came from a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Buckeye center Kaleb Wesson.
Bruin Kris Wilkes dropped in a three, which gave UCLA their largest lead of the game at 18-13 with 12:29 to play in the first half. Layups by OSU freshman guard Duane Washington and Wesson shrunk the lead to one point, and a layup by Wesson with 5:01 remaining gave Ohio State their first lead since the opening two minutes.
UCLA regained the lead at 24-23, but a 3-pointer from Luther Muhammad gave the Buckeyes 26-24 lead. While the game would end up tied a couple more times, Ohio State would never trail again.
Washington and Muhammad scored the final 10 points of the half for the Buckeyes, giving them a 33-30 lead at the half.
In a precursor of things to come, CJ Jackson started off the second half with a layup. They were his third and fourth points of the game.
Four quick points by UCLA cut the OSU lead to one point, but the Buckeyes answered with an 8-0 run with baskets from three different players. A 3-pointer from junior forward Andre Wesson capped the run.
The lead would fluctuate between five and eight points for a while. A second-chance three from Washington made it 51-42 with 12:12 to play, but UCLA answered with a 5-0 run to get right back in the game.
Trailing 61-53, Bruin Jules Bernard missed a three, which was rebounded by the Buckeyes, and that’s when UCLA seemed to deflate a bit. Washington brought the ball up court and flipped an alley-oop pass to Kyle Young from halfcourt, which Young subsequently slammed home.
The Buckeyes got a 3-pointer from Jackson and three free throws from him as well, giving OSU their largest lead of the game at 71-55 with 4:19 remaining.
Holtmann called a timeout following a 3-pointer from UCLA’s Jaylen Hands to cut it to 71-60. Having seen the Buckeyes surrender leads down the stretch in the past, he wanted to head this one off at the pass, which he did. UCLA would never get closer than 11 points the rest of the way out.
Despite foul trouble, Kaleb Wesson scored 15 points and grabbed a dozen rebounds. Going against a 7-foot-1 defender in Moses Brown, Wesson was never overmatched, and the Bruins’ lack of discipline helped him to record eight offensive rebounds.
The Star
+ Because basketball is a game of two halves, the star of this particular game is point guard CJ Jackson. During the first half he struggled and I wondered if he might get benched in the second half like has happened before. Rather than let his first-half performance of two points on 1-5 shooting and three turnovers affect his judgment, head coach Chris Holtmann stuck with Jackson in the second half and was rewarded for it. Jackson scored 20 of his 22 points in the game’s final 20 minutes. He also added six rebounds and didn’t turn the ball over once. As a team, the Buckeyes only had four turnovers in the second half.
Quick Bits
+ Your plus/minus leaderboard: Kaleb Wesson +15, Keyshawn Woods +14, CJ Jackson +13, Luther Muhammad +13, Kyle Young +10, and Andre Wesson +9.
+ Even though CJ Jackson was the star of the game, Keyshawn Woods may have qualified for the Point Guard of the Game. Woods handed out 10 assists with no turnovers. He scored six points on 3-of-11 shooting, but his ability to maneuver against UCLA’s zone defense made Holtmann’s decision to start him a good one.
+ Kyle Young may never get the attention he deserves, but he caught and delivered two key alley-oops in this game, scoring 11 points in 23 minutes of play. He also pulled down six rebounds. He made 5-of-7 from the field, which was impressive considering the size advantage the Bruins had down low. Young was never intimidated, and neither were his teammates.
The Box Score
Nice win against a storied program. Watched Cincinnati manhandle them earlier in the week, and knew the Buckeyes could do the same. UCLA just doesn’t like aggressive play. They were smart to come out in a zone, because we had not handled it well against Syracuse. Took a while but finally beat it with all those assists. Good Quick Bits, and Young’s appearance got the aggression going on defense. He is a junk yard dog! Love watching him and this team play. Efficient, aggressive and are playing well together. Always look forward to the early 2nd half as Coach H and staff git’er done at the break.
A well played dismantling of a left Coast team is ALWAYS a good thing. Nice to beat a team that thinks so highly of itself and whos recruiting/player personnel choices have become extremely questionable under Alford. Enjoy the red eye back to your dumpster fire homerown, Bruins. Well done!