Tough from the start…Bruce Thornton scores in traffic during the Buckeyes’ slow start against Appalacian State. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Devin Royal didn’t play, John Mobley Jr. has been sick and few could make a shot in the first half. But the Buckeyes stuck together on defense, shots started to fall and the expected result ensued.
Columbus, OH – When Bruce Thornton beat the first-half buzzer with a 3-pointer, hope sprang to life in the Schottenstein Center. The made shot produced as much surprise as happiness.
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Not because Thornton is an iffy shooter. But because for the first 19:59 of the first half the Buckeyes had their worst shooting half in more than two years.
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“When he hit that, it brings the excitement just a little bit more, puts a little smile on our face going into the halftime,” Brandon Noel said.
Thornton’s much-needed triple lifted the Buckeyes to a five-point lead and 28.6% shooting for the half and 2-of-16 from beyond the beloved arc. Much more than that, those three points were the biggest spark to the middle eight minutes of the game – more or less – that turned a 10-point deficit into a 12-point lead.
“That middle eight minutes is really, really important,” Noel said. “We won those, and that really set the tone for the rest of the game.”
The Buckeyes went to the locker room with confidence the second half would be a return to normalcy. Halfway through the final 20 minutes a far more acceptable amount of shots were falling, the Buckeyes led by 25 and an eventual 75-53 nonconference victory was secure.
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But that first half? Yikes. The Buckeyes never want to abuse the rim like that again.
The rim treated them like a carnival basketball shooting game, the ones with rims that you forget are smaller in diameter than the ones that stand 10 feet above the floor in every gym in the world. The bad luck that game is designed to produce infected every Buckeye.
They were reminded what it’s like to stand 10 feet from the lower-than-10-foot rim, being fooled into thinking this is easy. But it never is. And you never win the teddy bear.
Defense played its part…sophomore Colin White (Ottawa Glandorf HS) tips the ball away during the Buckeyes’ resurgence at the end of the first half.)
But prizes awaited the Buckeyes in the second half. They shot 53.8%, made 5 of 11 3-point shots and continued to rebound and aggressively guard the ball.
And in case there was doubt the Buckeyes would shoot much closer to normal in the second half, John Mobley Jr. quashed those doubts. He swished a 3-pointer early in the second half. And it just felt different than any of the random first-half baskets. It felt like the start of something unstoppable.
From there, 3-point shots that clanged off the side of the rim began to touch only net. Shots close to the basket banked in or were dunked – three times by Noel – instead of rolling off the rim.
“The biggest thing for us was just sticking with it,” said Noel, who had game highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds. “We knew our offense wouldn’t be like that the whole game. Being able to make that comeback going into the half, and then coming out of the half building on it, that was good for us.”
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The Buckeyes did face adversity that affected their offense. Devin Royal, a double-figure scorer, didn’t play because of a troublesome hip. Mobley Jr. played in shorter-than-normal spurts because he’s been sick and missed practice Monday. But he scored 16. Thornton took only seven shots and scored 13, and 7-footer Christoph Tilly scored nine on a 2-of-9 shooting night.
While the offense eventually found life, the defense made life consistently miserable for App State. The effort was much improved over the season opener when they allowed 102 points to IU Indy. The Mountaineers shot 35.7% and made 8 of 25 from 3-point range.
The Buckeyes finished defensive possessions (Brandon Noel, above)…something Jake Diebler said didn’t happen in the opener nearly enough.
The Buckeyes finished defensive possessions – something head coach Jake Diebler said didn’t happen in the opener nearly enough – and forced two shot-clock violations and rushed and fadeaway shots late in the shot clock.
“Really proud of the toughness and defensive connection we showed,” Diebler said. “We leaned on our defense, and we just made some adjustments offensively. It was a sign of a very mature and connected group to adjust and close out the half the way we did and then play the way we did in the second half.”
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A big part of the perimeter defensive effort was guard Gabe Cupps, the transfer from Indiana and former Centerville High School star. Diebler played Cupps for 26 minutes off the bench.
“That’s something that coach Dieb’s been on me personally about just being more nasty and getting up into the ball more,” Cupps said. “The more that I can set that tone, I think guys feed off of that. And we’ve got guys that can guard people, so it’s tough to score on us.”
John Mobley, Jr. scored, yes, but his work on defense help turned the tide of momentum in the Buckeyes’ win.
With Royal out, Cupps could have been the fifth starter. But Diebler chose Colin White, who along with Cupps and Royal, owns an Ohio Mr. Basketball award.
White has been dealing with leg injuries for almost a year. Diebler chose to start White for two reasons. First, he said White symbolizes the team’s toughness motto of “winning over everything.” Second, he likes Cupps being the first guard off the bench, and he didn’t want to disrupt that rhythm.
“I see the time he puts in every single day to give himself a chance to even practice,” Diebler said of White. “He’s been more consistent lately and had two great days of prep. He earned the right to play well for us.”
The downs, then ups of this game did not shake the Buckeyes’ confidence. The trends matched one of the messages in a book the team read together in the offseason, “Make Your Bed,” by William H. McRaven, a retired four-star admiral.
Before the game Diebler reminded his team of the chapter about carrying the raft together, helping each other, not letting each other down. His team needed that with Royal out and Mobley Jr. not feeling 100% well.
“When someone is sick or someone’s injured, which we faced, guys have just got to hold on a little tighter, they’ve got to hold on a little stronger and carry what you’re missing,” Diebler said. “It just seemed to apply in every way to tonight’s game.”
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