Micah Parrish snaps off a three-pointer on his way to 21 points in Wednesday’s 93-69 win over Washington. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Lights-out shooting and balanced scoring pave way for Buckeyes’ 15 win…Back to .500 in Big Ten play…Buckeyes shoot 61% from three-point range in blowout win.
Columbus, OH – They need wins, and they needed this one, a 93-69 blowout over the Washington Huskies Wednesday night at Value City Arena.
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It was a game that saw shooting and execution the likes of which they’ve seldom seen this season…and the likes of which they may covet for Michigan (Sunday) and Northwestern (next Thursday), two more critical games needed for the sake of post-season insurance.
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They left little to chance, despite spotting Washington the first two points of the game. From that point it was all Buckeyes, all the time, shooting 67% from the floor in the first half, and 67% from three-point range; and 58.5% for the game, and 61% from beyond the arc.
Four scored in double figures, including identical 21-point performances from Micah Parrish and John Mobley, Jr., and 17 from Bruce Thornton. Aaron Bradshaw chipped in 12 off the bench, including a pair of three-point attempts.
They led 51-36 at the halftime break, and as hard as it is to imagine shooting that well – or playing that well in the second half, as well – they did, nearly duplicating their first half percentages.
OSU’s John Mahaffey reaches to knock the ball loose from Washington’s Zoom Diallo during Wednesday’s 93-69 win over the Huskies.
They created turnovers on defense (15), and scored 21 points off those Washington miscues.
They blocked five shots and out-rebounded the Huskies (12-12, 3-9 in conference) 34-22.
It was everything Jon Diebler could have asked for at a time when they needed it most to keep in touch with things.
“I thought we were physical and we did a really good job on the glass,” said Diebler on his post-game show.
“I thought we played with force on the offensive end, and I thought our field goal percentage was a result of that. I thought our getting to the foul line was a result of that. Our guys really delivered in that regard.”
Mobley and Parrish both scored 21 and combined to hit 8 of 13 three-pointers. It took 31 minutes of playing time for Parrish to do it; and just 32 minutes for Mobley, who hit 5 of 7 shots back of the three-point line, his catch-and-shoot confidence never more evident.
“We’re asking a lot of him (Mobley) as a freshman,” said Diebler, an understatement.
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Diebler was ecstatic over seeing some consistency emerge at a point of the season where their season is on the line.
“A big reason why Micah (Parrish) wanted to come to Ohio State was opportunity,” said Diebler. “And we’re seeing that from him now. And it takes some time. He came from a program that played differently than we’re playing, and sometimes it does take time. But I think he’s gotten there. And that’s great because we need it.”
Freshman John Mobley, Jr. scored 21 points, made an assist from his knees during Wednesday’s win over the Washington Huskies.
Washington, a team that’s struggled with consistency in its first year as a Big Ten member, didn’t shoot a bad percentage (46.2% from the floor, and 41% from three-point range).
But the Huskies were simply no match for the forceful play of Ohio State and their sharing the basketball between shooters. Zoom Diallo, DJ Davis, and Tyler Harris led them in scoring, all with 14 points.
One would hope that Wednesday’s confidence builder can now carry over to Michigan on Sunday afternoon (1 pm, CBS), as these next two are games they need if they hope to get to twenty wins and an NCAA post-season bid.
And with six games remaining they may need five wins for insurance, and against the likes of Michigan, USC UCLA, Nebraska, and Indiana.
That, or win the Big Ten tournament.
Either way, they have their work cut out for them, and Washington was one they could not afford to flummox.
Michigan is 19-5, overall, and 9-2 in the Big Ten.
That’s the kind of challenge ahead.
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