Phew.
College basketball has officially begun in Columbus, Ohio! Seeing the way the game played out, UMass Lowell honestly could have pulled this out in convincing fashion. It was good to have one of these games now, so the Buckeyes can be better prepared for late game situations moving forward. They do need to find a flow going offensively, and they have to be able to hit some shots. They can’t have an over-reliance of their defense like they did at times last season.
Offensive Struggles
The Buckeyes shot a horrendous 4-18 from three, and struggled for most of the game to generate consistent offense. Defensively, they played extremely well I thought (with the exception of some threes). UMass Lowell’s Obadiah Noel shot just 5-21 from the field, including 3-13 from three with four turnovers in a game that was an offensive struggle.
Duane Washington struggled from the field (7-17, 3-11 from three), but had 21 points. He made some huge shots late that ultimately propelled Ohio State over UMass Lowell. Justin Sueing had 15 points and 6 rebounds on 4 of 9 shooting. He did miss three free throws (6-9 total), and EJ Liddell had 11 points and 8 rebounds. CJ Walker had 15, and he made 9-10 free throws. Zed Key came off the bench and contributed 8 huge points.
All In All
It was good to have a tough, grind-it-out game like this one early on before the schedule gets tough later in the season. With that said, the Buckeyes need some consistent shooting from key contributors on the team. They did manage to score 74 points, with a large portion of those coming from the free throw line (26-33). Ohio State will look to improve when they play this upcoming Wednesday.
Next Game: December 2nd vs Morehead State
Image: News Herald
