Ohio State Wins Close Shootout over Cornell

The Ohio State Buckeyes pulled away late in both halves to seal a first-round victory against the Cornell Big Red.

The Ohio State Buckeyes battled in a close one.

In their first under full-time head coach Jake Diebler, the No. 2-seeded Buckeyes (21-13, 9-11 Big Ten) defeated Cornell (22-8, 11-3 Ivy League) in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament 88-83 behind a big 17 points from sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr.

With leading scorer and unanimous First Team All-Ivy League senior guard Chris Manon out with a foot injury, the Big Red did not find any trouble scoring.

The Buckeyes had one of their slowest starts to the season. Despite retrieving eight offensive rebounds in the first four minutes, Ohio State couldn’t convert on any baskets. Sophomore forward Felix Okpara started the game 2-6, as he couldn’t convert any second-chance buckets.

Cornell sophomore guard Cooper Noard came out hot, hitting back-to-back 3s and finishing the first with eight points. The Big Red caught the Buckeyes sleeping several times in wide-open paint, allowing them to excel in backdoor cuts for easy layups.

Ohio State started 4-22 from the field — they couldn’t buy a 3 nor convert in the paint. With just under eight minutes remaining, the Buckeyes were shooting 13 percent from the field, even though they were outrebounding the Big Red by 12.

But once sophomore guard Bruce Thornton scored his first points of the game under eight minutes left in the first, the Buckeyes started to really get going. Thornton hit back-to-back 3s, leading a 10-0 run for Ohio State in just 2.5 minutes.

From then, the teams constantly traded buckets — the Big Red hit three straight 3s before Thornton and freshman forward Devin Royal responded with another two.

With the Buckeyes down one, senior forward Jamison Battle hit back-to-back 3s to give Ohio State their first lead of the game with 1:55 remaining. Both he and Thornton led all scorers with 10 points each in the first.

Perhaps more surprisingly, Ohio State killed it on the offensive glass with 12 offensive — and 32 total — rebounds to Cornell’s 16 total. The Buckeyes led by six after 20.

The first seven minutes of the second, however, were all Cornell again. Big Red senior guard Isaiah Gray single-handedly killed Ohio State’s backcourt on backdoor cuts, putting up eight points in the first seven minutes.

Cornell junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. complemented Gray with nine of his own during that span, including a three and another backdoor of his own.

Things seemed it would sway the way of the Big Red after Gayle picked up his fourth foul with just over 12 minutes remaining. In addition, Thornton went to the locker room limping and clenching at his ankle with just over 10 minutes left. He would not return for the rest of the game.

But it was Gayle who came back into the game to replace Thornton, leading the pack on both ends of the floor with 17 points, six boards, and four assists with over seven minutes remaining. 

Down the stretch, it was the Buckeyes’ game to lose — several lobs to Okpara and big-time buckets got the crowd erupting. Okpara finished with a career-high 16 to help carry the scoring with Thornton off.

Ivy League Second Team selection junior guard Nazir Williams and Gray hit back-to-back buckets to take the lead by one with just under a minute remaining.

Battle — who finished with 17 of his own — hit a late-game 3 with 43 seconds remaining to top off his night and give the Buckeyes a one-point lead. The Big Red turned the ball over and Royal had a layup under 30 seconds left to extend Ohio State’s lead to three. Royal finished with 13 points himself.

Although Ohio State hasn’t been the best free-throw shooting team this season, they went just 13-22 from the line, yet still pulled out a close victory.

The Buckeyes retained 22 offensive rebounds en route to a five-point victory.

The Buckeyes will take on the winner of Virginia Tech and Richmond either Saturday or Sunday, with a time to be announced.