Ohio State’s Amare Bynum gets to the rim past Penn State’s Dominick Stewart for two of his 15 points in Monday’s 84-78 Buckeyes win. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Should have been easier…wasn’t. Ohio State fends off a Penn State comeback to reach 6-4 in the Big Ten during Coaches vs. Cancer Week.
Columbus, OH – Jake Diebler’s seen a lot of adversity the past eight days, the kind of game adversity he believes continues to mature his team, and the life-altering adversity others endure that makes him cry.
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The good news is the Buckeyes, with some unexpected bench help, won for the third time in four games Monday night with an 84-78 victory over Penn State, a young team yet to win a Big Ten game.
The adversity, unlike recent Januarys, didn’t matter so much even though the list was long heading into the game.
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On the basketball court, the adversity started with having to forget a tough loss at Michigan on Friday. It continued Tuesday when the Buckeyes (14-6, 6-4) were nearly overwhelmed as an 18-point halftime lead against Penn State (9-11, 0-9) was a drop from complete evaporation in the second half.
Off the court, the Saturday and Sunday snowstorm created difficulties in getting to practice and kept most of the 10,358 paying customers away from the Schottenstein Center.
Compounding matters was the unexpected loss of starting center Christoph Tilly and backup guard Gabe Cupps to lower body injuries. That put 7-foot-2 Ivan Njegovan in the starting lineup for the first time and meant Taison Chatman was the first guard off the bench.
OSU’s Amare Bynum (background) spots Taison Chatman for an open look during Monday’s win over Penn State.
However, the adversity Diebler and his staff witnessed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day puts the basketball adversity in perspective. This is Coaches vs. Cancer Week. Diebler and his coaching staff visited cancer outpatients at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
The kids designed basketball shoes for each coach to wear during the game. Diebler wore a pair designed by Briley, a boy from Athens who drives to Columbus every week for chemotherapy.
“To see some of the pain that people are going through really, really puts things in perspective,” Diebler said. “It was an honor to wear his shoes.”
Diebler was asked to reflect on what the hospital visit meant to him in light of his Christian faith.
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“My faith is the most important thing in my life – when I’ve been going through tough times, that’s what I’ve leaned on,” he said as he began to get emotional. “And I’d encourage other people who have that, to lean on that and stand firm in the promises of God’s Word. We don’t know why some things happen. We’re not promised as believers that everything is going to go well, but we are promised that God will be with us. Hopefully people can gain strength and hope in that.”
OSU’s John Mobley, Jr. scored a game-high 25 points…fights for a loose ball during the Buckeyes’ Monday win at Value City Arena.
And when it comes to the job, Diebler’s biggest lean is for his team to respond more quickly to the inevitable runs other teams will make. No team eliminates them, but many respond more quickly.
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The dramatic swings the Buckeyes have endured in many games – wins and losses – surfaced again Monday night.
The Buckeyes built a 50-32 lead on the strength of two runs. A 14-2 run grew the lead to 25-11. Then the teams mostly traded baskets for several minutes, and the Buckeyes led 36-26. No harm done. The Buckeyes closed the half with a 14-6 run.
However, a three-point play by Penn State’s Josh Reed with 10:46 left cut Ohio State’s lead to 60-59. Finally, the Buckeyes responded with a 14-4 run to lead 74-63. The lead was cut to four in the final minute, but the Nittany Lions didn’t have any more 3-pointers to add to the 10 they’d already made.
“We were a step slow defensively, gave up some catch-and-shoot threes that we had done a good job taking away in the first half,” Diebler said. “That was frustrating because I felt like we just weren’t executing well enough. It took too long to respond, quite honestly.”
But it was a win, and in January that matters most. Last year the Buckeyes were 4-4 in January. This month the Buckeyes are 5-3 with one game left, clinching their first winning January since 2021-22.
This is a foul in every conference except the Big Ten – OSU’s Ivan Njegovan and Penn State’s Ivan Juric.
“This is a different group, it’s a different team, different program, different principles,” Diebler said. “I love our toughness and ability to handle adversity. Today was a perfect example that everything in Big Ten play’s hard. We’re built for it.”
Chatman’s play off the bench gave the Buckeyes a needed boost. After missing two seasons with injuries and trying to find playing time this season, he played almost 17 minutes and scored a career-high 11 points.
“My team relied on me, and I didn’t want to let them down,” Chatman said.
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Njegovan fouled out, but still managed to play 20 minutes, scored eight points and get three rebounds. Freshman forward Amare Bynum had to fill those other minutes at center, scoring 15 points and grabbing five rebounds and three steals.
The constant for the fourth straight game was John Mobley Jr. He scored 25 points to surpass 20 for the fourth straight game. He made 5 of 11 3-point shots to tie Jon Diebler on the career list of at least four 3-pointers in four straight games. Diebler did it twice. Jamison Battle set the record of five two seasons ago.
“Anybody that shoots the ball that well, at that high of a clip from all over the place, you’re harder to guard,” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said. “Some guys can just shoot the ball. He can create his own shot.”
Every opponent knows Mobley Jr. won’t pass up an open 3-pointer. In the last four games he’s attempted 12, 11, nine and 11 threes, and he’s made 46.5%. Most of the time he’s been wide open.
“He does a good job reading screens off the ball, but I also think he’s gotten better using ball screens,” Rhoades said. “And when he uses a ball screen, it creates some space separation.”
Devin Royal rises for two of his 14 points in Monday’s win over Penn State.
Point guard Bruce Thornton, however, is finding less space. Teams are covering him tighter off ball screens, sometimes with two defenders, and the open shots he routinely gets in the paint have been diminished the past two games.
He scored his season lows of 10 at Michigan and nine against Penn State. However, against Penn State, Thornton contributed five assists, three steals and no turnovers.
Devin Royal had a bounce-back game with 14 points after scoring only four at Michigan.
Getting all the pieces to fit right every night is Diebler’s job. He’s not sure how soon he will have Tilly and Cupps back. Brandon Noel will be out even longer. However, now he will count on Njegovan and Chatman more and expect more.
The Buckeyes also added Puff Johnson to their bench last week when he was cleared by a court to play in his battle to get an extra medical redshirt season. He transferred from Penn State. Johnson played 13 minutes and scored his first basket.
“We talk a lot about toughness and our ability to handle adversity well,” Diebler said. “We train for it. We work for it. And I thought our guys did a great job with that tonight.
“We’ve proven an ability to win on the road, which is important. You have to be able to do that in this league. And we’re now playing at a level where we’re protecting our home court better, which you have to do in this league.”
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