What’s not to like about an offensive night of great shooting and 118 points? The Buckeyes were clearly happy to produce like that against an aggressive IU Indy defense. But they also know they have work to do on the defensive end.
Columbus, OH – Jake Diebler felt nostalgic about the aggressive and chaotic style IU Indy brought to the opening night of Ohio State’s basketball season. And he was glad his team got to experience it and, he hopes, learn from it.
“This is a style that’s very familiar to me because this is how I was raised, playing this type of up-tempo, trapping the whole time, spreading guys out, shooting a lot of threes,” Diebler said. “If you know my dad at all, we’re all too familiar with this.”
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The average fan had no idea what the Jaguars would do, that they wouldn’t be just a Big Ten doormat, collect a paycheck and lose by 40. No, they scored over 100 points, too. But Ohio State – more polished on offense than on defense – predictably scored more and won 118-102.
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“That was a lot of possessions,” Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton said. “It felt like an NBA game today.”
A 24-second shot clock would have been more than enough on most possessions. You might say this game turned back the clock on Ohio State basketball 30 years. The school record for points is 121 against George Mason in 1995. The last time the Buckeyes allowed 100 in regulation was to Purdue in 1998.
The opening night crowd of 8,141 certainly didn’t expect that many points. Few, if any, knew first-year Jaguars coach Ben Howlett compiled a 217-37 record at NCAA Division II West Liberty in West Virginia and averaged 100.2 points last year.
And who is IU Indy, anyway? The Jaguars were formerly known as IUPUI. They play in the Horizon League with Wright State, Cleveland State and a bunch of other teams no one ever expects to score 100 points against the Buckeyes or anyone else except maybe each other.
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Howlett feared nothing going against a Big Ten team. He played his style even if it meant giving up well over 100 points, shooting 38 3-point shots and committing 36 fouls. The Jaguars strategy: full-court pressure and trap the ball to create turnovers, be aggressive on offense and never, ever pass up an open or half-open 3-pointer.
“Getting tested where you’ve got to be really, really tough with the ball and make decisions under the duress is great,” Diebler said. “Going against a team who sends everybody to the glass is great because we know there’s going to be some teams in our league who do that. That’s great for us to have to box out over and over and over and over and over and over again.”
Old reliable…Guard Bruce Thornton connected on 7 of 10 from the field to finish with 26 points.
Offensively, the Buckeyes displayed the versatility Diebler recruited from the transfer portal. Seven-foot center Christoph Tilly scored 17 of his game-high 28 points in the second half. He showed an ability to drive to the basket, finish through contact and get to the free-throw line where he made 9 of 13. He made one of two 3-point shots, and Diebler wants him to shoot more of those.
“I’m happy to have a really good game at the beginning of the season, but I’m more happy about the team that we came out and scored almost 120 points,” Tilly said. “It showed what we did all summer, and I’m very proud of all our guys.”
The Buckeyes made their first eight shots, including five 3-pointers – two each by Thornton and Devin Royal and one by John Mobley Jr. – to lead 22-15.
Royal missed his next three 3-point attempts, but he scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half and made 10 of 13 free throws. Thornton scored 26 points and made 10 of 12 free throws. Mobley Jr. scored 16 points and led the team with eight assists.
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“He’s going to give up a good shot for a great shot, and that shows what kind of player he is,” Tilly said of Mobley Jr. “He’s going to shoot. But if he’s not open, then he’s going make the right decision.”
The Buckeyes shot 63% from the field and made 8 of 22 3-point shots. They missed only two two-point attempts in the first half and only six for the game. Just like last week’s exhibition win over Ohio, the Buckeyes are shooting layups and 3-pointers. The mid-range jump shot, so far, is not in their arsenal.
Junior Devin Royal chipped in a dependable 22 points in the win over IU Indy.
“At times we settled on a perimeter a little too much,” Diebler said. “We wanted to play through the paint against this team. We were really connected. We have a chance to have a really good offensive team because of that connection and because of the skill and the shooting.”
The Buckeyes’ offense was most challenged by Indy’s full-court pressure. Early in the game, and then a few times late, the inbounds pass was in trap-friendly areas near the baseline and the corners. The adjustment was for the guards to double cut to get open, sometimes inbound deeper down the middle to Tilly, reverse the ball away from the trap or dribble around the trap.
“For the most part, we executed in those situations pretty well,” Diebler said. “Fatigue was a factor at times because they were working so hard to get the ball past half court.”
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Indy’s strategy resulted in 17 Ohio State turnovers, including an alarming 13 in the second half. The Jaguars trailed by a point deep into the first half before Ohio State raised its energy on defense for a 13-0 run and a 66-50 halftime lead.
Indy stayed close enough, however, in the second half and created an uncomfortable atmosphere when they cut the lead to 103-93 with five minutes left. Diebler inserted Gabe Cupps, a sophomore transfer guard from Indiana, to help Thornton and Mobley junior with the ball handing and perimeter defense.
“Against a team who was really small in their own right, we felt like having the extra ball handling, and guys who are really comfortable in those switching situations, was going to be beneficial for us,” Diebler said.
Cupps played almost 18 minutes off the bench, the most on the team, scored five points, all on free throws, and committed only one turnover.
“Having Gabe out there is great,” Thornton said. “He helps us so much, and I hope everybody can recognize what he does for us.”
Bigger teams in the Big Ten will present more challenges to Ohio State’s offense. The pressing question, however, coming out of the opener is the defense that allowed too many points and 50% shooting and had too many breakdowns late in the shot clock that led to open shots. And the Buckeyes know it.
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“Fifty percent is obviously not good enough,” Diebler said. “We’ve got to get more deflections. We’ve got to be more active, pressure a little bit more defensively.”
The Buckeyes prepared to stop Indy’s disciplined cutting game designed for layups and keep them off the offensive glass. They allowed some of that. Too many times the Jaguars got in the lane and scored. To their credit, many of those baskets were difficult shots against bigger bodies.
But closing out to shooters seemed to be the Buckeyes’ biggest concern that will require more practice. They fouled a couple of 3-point shooters and sometimes were a couple steps behind on the closeouts that led to made shots. Diebler said they anticipated some switches too early, which allowed the Jaguars to stay behind screens for open shots.
“We had some poor closeouts and some long closeout situations, but they just kept moving back,” he said.
Still, it was Game 1 and, with the Jaguars getting 82 possessions and hoisting 76 shots, the film session will be long with plenty to pick apart and learn from. Other opponents will do some of the things the Jaguars did. But not everything they tried.
“This was a unique opener,” Diebler said. “This was a unique style.”
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