Sophomore Devin Royal had a career night in the Buckeyes’ win…31 points on 11 for 16 shooting and 15 rebounds. (Press Pros Feature Photos)Devin Royal continued his surge as Ohio State’s best player with 31 points and 15 rebounds against his coach’s alma mater…Buckeyes cruise in the second half to 95-73 win.
Columbus, OH – With 4:24 left and Ohio State leading by 28, Devin Royal went to the bench to stay.
The crowd knew 33 minutes would be all they would get to see of Royal so they gave him a standing ovation. The cheers of the small Tuesday night crowd didn’t raise the roof (or even reach it). But Royal felt the appreciation, nonetheless.
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Royal’s line: career-high 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting and a career-high 15 rebounds. And they had to be thinking: “Where would we be without this guy?”
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State basketball and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Evan Mahaffey knows. He made an announcement as he sat down with Royal for postgame interviews.
“The last Buckeye was Jared Sullinger to have 30 and 15,” he said. “I just want to let that be known out there.”
That Royal’s big night came in a 95-73 victory against overmatched Valparaiso (5-5) doesn’t go unnoticed. But what is more noteworthy is that Royal continues to be the Buckeyes’ go-to scorer. And the best part is he isn’t scoring because the Buckeyes (7-4) are forcing it.
Royal scores in the flow of the offense. He scores on offensive rebounds. And when he sees a mismatch – back to the basket or facing it – he attacks the rim and scores with quick feet and power. He’s raised his scoring average to 15.6 to lead the team and has a way of making it look easy.
“I get the ball in good looks, I try to find my way to cut, just be open in the right spots and just score for our team,” he said.
A contrast in defense….OSU’s John Mobley pressures Valparaiso’s Cooper Schwieger’s shot attempt in Tuesday’s win at Value City Arena.
Then he had a little fun with Mahaffey who was sitting to his right.
“I don’t know if it’s that easy, I just make it look that easy,” Royal said, and they both laughed.
Serious again, Royal said, “It’s not that easy. My teammates put me in that position to be open.”
The first half plodded until Royal scored in the paint and added a free throw for a 29-20 lead with 4:19 left. Then Royal dunked and scored on an alley-oop pass from Micah Parrish for a 33-24 lead. The lead was 40-31 at halftime and Royal already had 18 points and nine rebounds.
Other than Royal’s production, the first half wasn’t the way the Buckeyes wanted to play. But they took over in the second half, going hard to the basket, playing better defense to force more difficult shots and generally taking Valpo out of what it wanted to do on offense.
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“After this past game on Saturday, our toughness needs to go up,” Mahaffey said in reference to the 91-53 loss to Auburn. “That’s the type mentality we got to take into every game. So us realizing the first half it was slacking a little bit, just trying to pick it up. That’s just not an identity for this game. It’s going to be for rest of the season going forward for sure.”
The 54-point second half filled out the stat sheet for others. Mahaffey scored 15 points and made all six of his shot attempts. Bruce Thornton and Parrish scored 14 apiece. And John Mobley Jr., starting for the first time, had five assists and nine points.
Scrappy…Micah Parrish scored in double figures, claimed a loose ball on defense to support the Buckeyes’ win.
Mobley Jr. started because Meechie Johnson took an indefinite leave of absence from the team for undisclosed personal reasons. That meant Mobley had to play 34 minutes. The Buckeyes are still without 7-foot-1 center Aaron Bradshaw. He played in the first four games before being suspended. He’s been back with the team since Saturday’s game but has yet to be in uniform. Head coach Jake Diebler didn’t say when Bradshaw will play again.
The adversity of the team not being whole are lessons Diebler learned as a player at Valparaiso. When he was a freshman, he thought coach Homer Drew didn’t like him. He called his dad, still the coach then at Upper Sandusky, and Keith Diebler told him to stay and never mention leaving again.
Diebler stayed, played for years and then served on the coaching staff for four years with current Valpo head coach Roger Powell. With Drew sitting in the interview room, Diebler became emotional when talking about his experience at Valpo.
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“If you know Homer Drew at all, you know he doesn’t not like anybody,” Diebler said. “So that’s how messed up I was. And my dad gave me the best advice I ever had. I had a coach who actually loved me and forced me to grow and get better.”
And that’s where Diebler is with his first team as the head coach. The Buckeyes bounced back in some ways from the loss to Auburn. But now his guard rotation is short, Thornton was banged up with heating pad wrapped around his midsection when he was on the bench, and until Bradshaw returns the Buckeyes don’t measure up in height with other Big Ten teams.
St. Mary’s Memorial product Austin Parks got a season-high 16 minutes off the Buckeyes’ bench.
The difficult non-conference schedule continues Saturday against No. 5 Kentucky at Madison Square Garden. Then Big Ten play begins at home January 3 against Michigan State.
“You can certainly challenge my bias for what I feel about that program and their coach, but make no mistake, that is a really good team and a high-powered offensive team,” Diebler said of Valpo. “I don’t view this as was this enough or not? The reality is, for us and for the longevity of our schedule, we have to keep growing. We got to keep getting better.”
Diebler knows the rigors of the Big Ten – a gauntlet that created long losing streaks each of the past two seasons – comes down to effort and execution. He cited a long stretch against Auburn when the defense held the Tigers scoreless. The problem on the offensive end wasn’t getting outworked, but execution and too much one-on-one.
“Against great teams you’ve got to execute, you’ve got to play together,” Diebler said.
And in the moments, however long they are, Diebler said he has ways to address getting outworked.
“There were moments in that game where we fell below our standard absolutely, and those were addressed with substitutions, and those were looked at in film and conversations,” he said of the Auburn game. “You can’t have moments where you’re not playing to your standard and expect to be successful against really good teams. Going into league – can’t have those moments.”
But lots of Devin Royal moments will help.
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