Ohio State Records 50-Point Blowout over Evansville Behind Big Second Half

The Buckeyes had a great bounce back performance Tuesday night in Columbus.

Nov 15, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard John Mobley Jr. (0) shoots a three point basket during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The Buckeyes aced the night.

Behind a career, double-double night from sophomore big Devin Royal, Ohio State (3-1, 0-0 Big Ten) defeated the Evansville Purple Aces 80-30 despite a slow first half.

Just like Friday against Texas A&M, the Buckeyes struggled to start the game. Luckily for Jake Diebler, he wasn’t playing a top-ranked team.

Still, the first made bucket came after nearly five minutes on a 3-pointer from sophomore big Michael Day for Evansville. Ohio State senior guard Meechie Johnson Jr. hit the Buckeyes’ first shot a minute later.

After nearly 13 minutes had gone by, the Buckeyes led just 11-9; the suffocating 3-2/2-1-2 variation from the Purple Aces contributed to the mere inability for the Buckeyes to score.

However, just as it had been through the first three games, Ohio State was fueled by the outstanding two-way play of freshman John Mobley Jr., who had a coast-to-coast layup, followed by another circus layup and a block at the other end. He then hit a 3-pointer to extend the Buckeyes’ lead and set them on a run.

The stellar play of Royal also helped — the Pickerington, Ohio, native was able to get to the line on multiple consecutive possessions, going 6-for-8 at the charity stripe and leading all players with 10 points and eight rebounds at the half.

Individually, however, both teams shot very poorly — Evansville made just 13 percent of its field goals overall; the Buckeyes were not much better at 29 percent. Still, Ohio State managed to go on a 12-0 run to end the half, despite not scoring a bucket in the last 4:40, and take a 14-point lead into the locker room.

The first quarter of the second half brought Ohio State back to life, however. Senior guard Micah Parrish, who went scoreless in the first half, had the first three buckets for the Buckeyes in the second, starting a big run.

Bad news came about for the Buckeyes, however: sophomore forward Sean Stewart seemed to have hit his head on a loose ball and came up dizzy on his feet. He would remain on the bench, but would not return for the night.

Nov 15, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Devin Royal (21) shoots a three point basket against the Texas A&M Aggies during the second half at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Diebler’s squad seemed fueled by this moment — within a span of five minutes, Johnson hit Bradshaw for a big lob and junior point-forward Evan Mahaffey had a big jam down low to get the crowd fired up. The very next play after a timeout, Mahaffey came up with a weak-side block.

After previously setting his career high with 16 points in the first game against Texas this season, Royal snapped that with 20 points and 12 rebounds en route to recording his first double-double of his young career.

With sophomore Austin Parks and senior Ques Glover on the injury report, and Stewart out, the Buckeyes gave freshman Colin White the opportunity to step in to show more guard depth — he hit his first bucket of the season on a corner 3 under nine minutes remaining. White would hit another from the opposite corner just under seven minutes left.

Freshman Ivan Njegovan also scored the first points of his Buckeye career of the season Tuesday, including banking in a 3 under a minute left.

Ohio State seemed to have addressed an interior presence they can succeed with among the bigs — not only did the team set a season-high 48 rebounds, but Royal, Mahaffey, Bradshaw and Stewart showed they can dominate down low when they roll and create space effectively.

The Buckeyes overall did a great job limiting Aces’ leading scorer in freshman Gabriel Pozzato — who reigns from Italy and played for the NBA Global Academy — to just eight points on 33 percent shooting. As a team, Ohio State outscored Evansville 52-16 in the second.

Ohio State returns to action Friday in Columbus, as they take on Campbell at 6 p.m., streaming on Big Ten Network.