Brandon Noel scored 29 points against Northwestern on 13 of 15 shooting…and grabbed seven rebounds. (Press Pros File Photos)
Brandon Noel scored 29 points and Ohio State held on in the final minute for an important conference road win.
Ohio State’s rebuilt starting lineup promised points would come from anywhere and anyone.
In Saturday’s Big Ten opener in Evanston, Illinois, anywhere was the paint, and anyone was Brandon Noel.
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Noel, the senior transfer from Wright State, had scored in double figures only against Appalachian State. But against Northwestern he scored 29 points on 13 of 15 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Buckeyes to an 86-82 victory.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and basketball and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Noel’s best day as a Buckeye came off his worst. He played only nine minutes and didn’t score in the buzzer-beating loss at Pitt. So he had a heart-to-heart with head coach Jake Diebler and got clarity on what’s expected.
Diebler played Noel 35 minutes, some of them at center for the ailing Christoph Tilly. Noel also got on the glass well and scored in transition to unlock his day. But it started in the week of practice since the Pitt game.
“The way he practiced this week – now I didn’t know he was going to have 29 and 7 – but you just knew he was going to play well because he earned the right to play well,” Diebler said. “He took it to another level, and my expectations for him in practice went up significantly.”
But Noel didn’t do it alone. After trailing 44-40 at halftime, he scored 19 of his points in the second half to certainly lead the scoring column. And point guard Bruce Thornton scored 13 of his 17 points and wing Devin Royal scored eight of his 10.
Royal and Noel each scored twice in the lane and Royal made a corner 3-pointer for an 81-73 lead with 2:10 to play. But Northwestern, led by Nick Martinelli, sliced the lead to 82-81 with 28 seconds left.
But Thornton and Tilly each made a pair of free throws while the Wildcats couldn’t make another shot, ending their peskiness.
“You know you’re going to have to bring your absolute best,” Diebler said. “You’re not going to play perfect because they’re not going to allow you to. You gotta have resiliency, and our team really had that.”
The Buckeyes dominated the paint 62-38 with Noel doing the most damage. They shot 57.4% from the field, and 62 paint points are the most since 2022.
Martinelli kept the Wildcats close with paint scores, two 3-pointers and 32 points on 10 of 16 shooting.
Northwestern shot 24 3-pointers, but Ohio State shot only 14, the fewest this season by eight. So the Buckeyes didn’t settle for early shot-clock 3s and moved the ball to create driving and passing lanes to the basket.
“We felt going into the game the paint real estate was the game on both sides of the ball,” Diebler said.
Thornton had his fifth career double-double with 10 assists. He didn’t commit a turnover and had two steals.
The Buckeyes (7-1, 1-0 Big Ten) play at home Tuesday against No. 14 Illinois (6-2).
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