Buckeyes Exhibit Some Good, Some Bad In Outdoor Loss To Bearcats

Ohio State and Cincinnati played an early exhibition on a tennis court, and the Buckeyes held serve most of the game until the final 10 minutes.

Mason, OH – Playing basketball outside, in the bright sun, with enough breeze to affect shooting accuracy, changes what you measure.

For example, Ohio State made only 4 of 23 shots from 3-point range Wednesday afternoon at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Poor shooting has a way of creating a perception that the offense isn’t doing anything right.

“We are a much better shooting team than 4 for 23 with I don’t know how may airballs,” Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said. “We actually manufactured some great looks, like some wide-open great looks, and we talked about it in this game we wanted to shoot the right shots. If it was windy, if it was glaring, I told them they weren’t allowed to second guess or make excuses.”

And while the Buckeyes were far from as efficient on offense as they expect to be, they were far from distraught over their 79-68 exhibition loss to Cincinnati in the first half of the CareSource Invitational doubleheader in support of mental health in front of an announced attendance of 11,017.

The shooting conditions, while not catastrophic by any measure, turned the focus to how well or how poorly the Buckeyes stuck to the process and played in segments on both ends of the floor.

“Today was practice 11 for us, and we got to keep working and getting better, so some really good stuff there in segments, some not-so-good stuff in some other segments,” Diebler said. “The great thing is this now gives us some stuff to really attack and kind of double down on things we’ve been talking about.”

As for playing outdoors on a wooden floor on center court where most of the world’s top tennis players compete every year, both teams gave rave reviews.

“What an awesome experience playing outside,” Diebler said. “This is unbelievable facility. My first time here and hopefully isn’t the last.”

Ohio State’s John Mobley Jr.: “Good experience for the guys. Shooting aspect I always make no excuses for myself.”

First-year Cincinnati coach Jerrod Calhoun, who is breaking in a completely new roster: “This is just a terrific event. The cause is so much bigger than basketball. To have that many people at an exhibition game is only going to really pay big dividends for both teams, and I thought both teams really played hard.”

The learning experience came earlier than most exhibitions. Ohio State’s second one is October 25 at home against Butler. The early feedback and film study can only help both teams.

One of those things Diebler will double down on in the next several practices will be how to play under control when playing behind in the final minutes, a common occurence in Big Ten games when pressure and anxiety peak. When the Buckeyes played twice in Puerto Rico in August, they won by wide margins.

But on this day, with the temperature peaking at 80 degrees, the Buckeyes put themselves in position to play from behind. They led for 23 of the first 30 minutes. Their 56-49 lead with 10 minutes left, however, didn’t last. UC outscored the Buckeyes 30-12 over the final 10 minutes when defensive breakdowns and being outrebounded 45-35 caught up to them.

However, in a game that didn’t count, trailing UC down the stretch was Diebler’s favorite segment because the situation can’t be fully simulated in practice. Freshman L.J. Smith hit a 3-pointer in transition on an assist from Mobley Jr., cutting UC’s lead to 73-68 with 1:49 left.

The Buckeyes had a couple 3-point openings and another transition opportunity that could have flipped the score. Didn’t happen, but Diebler was glad for the opportunity. So glad he played returning starters Mobley Jr. and Amare Bynum more than he wanted to.

“That was a great opportunity for us to try and fight back, and you can’t simulate that in practice,” Diebler said. “I seized that moment and played some of these guys a little bit longer than I wanted to going into the game.”

Mobley Jr. and Bynum are Diebler’s only returning starters. The only other returning player to play was 7-foot-2 Ivan Njegovan. Mobley Jr. scored a team-high 15 points and made only 2 of 9 3-point shots. Bynum scored nine points on 4 of 6 shooting and led the team with seven rebounds. Njegovan struggled early, scored on two free throws and played only seven minutes.

Prize freshmen Anthony Thompson and L.J. Smith had some moments, especially Smith. He scored twice in the first half, finding his way into the lane, and grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic to score in the second half, finishing with nine points and taking the second-most shots behind Mobley Jr. Thompson scored once on a strong move inside. Otherwise, he played with hesitancy on offense and took only three shots.

“It was a tough environment for them,” Mobley Jr. said. “But just seeing them still play hard, doing everything they can to try to help us win, that’s really all you could ask for.”

Of the five transfers, guard Justin Pippen showed the most on both ends. He didn’t start, which is something Diebler said means nothing at this point, but quickly scored twice when he entered the game.

Pippen finished with eight points and three rebounds and turned an ankle late in the game. His defensive pressure in the backcourt made a difference. He drew a couple of offensive fouls and made the Bearcats often start their offense closer to halfcourt than they prefer.

“He’s got an ability to be disruptive,” Diebler said. “His activity and ball pressure are a real weapon for us.”

Diebler also enjoyed the way Cincinnati defended because he said the Bearcats’ style is different than what they see from anyone else this season. Calhoun, once an assistant at West Virginia to former UC coach Bob Huggins, has his team switch aggressively on screens and keeps his post player low for the most part.

“It puts you in a little bit of a chaotic situation offensively, and I liked that because it made us kind of figure it out together,” Diebler said. “Again, we had some great possessions where we’ll make those threes, or we’ll finish, or we’ll make those free throws.”

Overall, the Buckeyes shot 40.7% from the field and 55.6% from the line (20 of 36). Their shooting percentages went down when the played into the sun. Likewise, Cincinnati’s went up in the second half going away from the sun.

Still, in the final 10 minutes it became clear that defensive positioning and general fundamentals of staying down and in front of your man, and blocking out for rebounds will be coached up starting with the next practice.

Josh Ojianwuna saw his most action as a Buckeye with 17 minutes. He’s a 6-10, 270-pounder who transferred from Baylor last year but missed the season with an injury. He ran the floor and scored four points while looking rusty and unsure of himself a couple times with the ball near the basket. He admitted to Diebler that he was nervous.

“I understand that,” Diebler said. “Josh has been an anchor for us defensively at times, but he wasn’t at his best today. Having him out there and getting the minutes was really more important than some of the details. He’ll be a lot better moving forward.”

Presumably, the entire team will be better as its chemistry grows, roles are more defined, freshmen get over their nerves and a lot more shots go in.