With three of Ohio State's top four scorers in Marc Loving, Jae'Sean Tate and JaQuan Lyle combining for just 13 points on 6/19 shooting, you might think Ohio State would have been in trouble against South Carolina State.
Instead, behind an unlikely dynamic duo of Keita Bates-Diop and reserve point guard A.J. Harris, the Buckeyes rolled to a 34-21 halftime lead and never looked back in a 73-57 win over the Bulldogs to wrap up non-conference play.
Bates-Diop splashed five triples in the first half (5/7) accounting for 17 points and added another seven in the second to finish with a career-high 24 points on 8/14 shooting along with 10 rebounds in a dominant 28 minutes of action.
Trailing 15-11 with 11:14 left in the opening half, Ohio State went on a 23-6 blitz to take a commanding lead into the locker room. Bates-Diop fueled the burst with 14 of his 17 first half points including a strong dribble drive down the middle of the lane and a quartet of triples. All four of his treys were assisted including a pair from Loving off nifty drives and kickouts.
"Keita did a great job of finding space and guys found him", said head coach Thad Matta. "Thank goodness he was on in the first half."
With Bates-Diop pacing the offense, Ohio State's defense shutdown the Bulldogs for much of the opening half forcing South Carolina State to miss 11 of their final 13 shots, holding them to just six points over the final 11 minutes. The Bulldogs shot 27% in the opening 20 minutes and missed five straight triples after hitting their first three to build the early 15-11 lead.
An unfortunate theme of being unable to sustain intensity reared its ugly head to start the second half as the Bulldogs scored the first six points and used a 10-4 run to trail just 38-31 with 12:50 to play.
Enter A.J. Harris.
Looking to spark a lethargic team, Harris found Daniel Giddens for an alley-oop dunk to push the Buckeye lead to 40-31 and after a pair of free throws from both Bates-Diop and Giddens, Harris assisted on four straight OSU buckets.
The first two came on alley-oop looks to Kam Williams for easy layups before he fed Loving for a dunk. On the ensuing possession, Harris was back at it finding Williams for a triple extending Ohio State's lead to 53-36.
After a Loving three-pointer, Harris buried a three of his own to cap a 20-9 run putting the game out of reach at 58-40 with 6:51 left on the clock.
Harris was simply unstoppable during the blitz with three points, five assists and one rebound and even had a ridiculous blocked shot drawing rave reviews from the crowd and his teammates.
"His speed was a big time adjustment for coach Matta," said Bulldogs head coach Murray Gavin. "He's so quick he can turn off the lights and be in bed before it gets dark. The lobs were a major momentum swing in the second half. It got their crowd involved."
Through 12 games, it seems Harris is growing comfortable with the college game, his role as a distributor and his ability to more effectively use his speed and quickness. "It's getting easier for me. I know how to calm it down a little bit now. For me to score, I don’t really care, but for me to pass it to my big man or my shooters in the corner, I make it a point to do that."
With the B1G slate kicking off this Wednesday night, both guys are finding their stride at just the right time.
"A.J. kind of came in and lit the wick for us," said Matta. "Both guys got A's today in terms of what they brought to the team."
