Ohio State Shrugs Off Slow Start With Late First-Half Run, Beats New Orleans 78-36

Ohio State started 5-of-22 (22.7%) from the field and led New Orleans just 17-15 with less than five minutes to play in the first half. But Battle knocked down an open catch-and-shoot from the left corner on a crisp pass from Evan Mahaffey.

Mahaffey then stole the ball on New Orleans' ensuing possession and dumped it back to Battle on the right wing for another make from distance.

That sparked a 17-2 run over the final 5:25 of the first half for the Buckeyes that put them up 31-17 going into intermission and largely put the game away. Ohio State (10-2) ultimately won 78-36 over the Privateers (5-7) in Value City Arena.

Battle paced all scorers with 17 points, going 5-of-8 from three and adding nine rebounds. Zed Key followed with 16 points, eight of them coming on four thunderous dunks. Bruce Thornton and Dale Bonner also hit double-figures with 11 and 10 points.

Ohio State smothered New Orleans defensively to the tune of just 36 points. The Privateers shot a measly 25% from the field. Not a single player on their team hit double figures.

First half

After each team hit a jumper in the first 65 seconds of action, Ohio State and New Orleans combined to go 0-for-10 over more than four minutes.

The opening minutes in general were an offensive slog. Roddy Gayle Jr. put Ohio State ahead 9-7 with a floater, and a two-minute scoring drought ensued until Key lowered his shoulder and finished an and-one layup with a finger-gun celebration to make it 12-7 coming out of the under-12 media timeout.

A few trends were building against the Privateers that should have allowed the Buckeyes to start extending their lead. New Orleans got into foul trouble, putting Ohio State into the bonus with 11:24 still remaining in the first half. Forwards Tyson Jackson and D'Ante Bell each picked up their second foul of the first half.

At the same time, the Privateers were missing more shots than a blind man with a six-shooter. Ten in a row bricked off the rim in one way or another after the team recorded its third make of the contest.

The problem was that Ohio State suffered the same issues, missing eight shots in a row after going up 14-9. As such, New Orleans climbed back into the game, taking its second and final lead on a transition slam by James Glisson III to go up 15-14.

Bonner cashed in a three-point play the old-fashioned way to make it 17-15 Ohio State, however, and Battle's back-to-back three-point barrage and the game-clinching Buckeye run followed from there.

In total, Ohio State shot just 36.4% from the field in the first half. But New Orleans was at a dismal 23.1%.

Second half

Ohio State worked to grow its lead as the second set of 20 minutes opened.

A two-hand slam by Mahaffey extended the Buckeyes' run to 19-2 before it was finally broken by a New Orleans free throw.

A layup from Mahaffey and another two-hand throwdown by Key set the stage for Thornton to flick a layup high off the glass and in through contact, making the lead 20 points for Ohio State at 41-21 with 14:33 remaining.

New Orleans cut the lead under 20 a couple of times but another Ohio State run ensured it didn't even stay that close. Bonner knocked down a triple, then Devin Royal piled on top of things by stealing the inbound pass and slamming it home.

Off a miss on Ohio State's next possession, Royal battled through two defenders to tip a rebound to himself and swing it around to Gayle near the low block.

Gayle fed an open Key and his emphatic two-hand jam with a raise-the-roof celebration received perhaps the loudest pop of the evening from a dense Schottenstein Center crowd. He drew a foul too and hit the free throw to make it 52-25 Buckeyes, capping an 8-0 run.

Key got two more dunks across the next three minutes and change, then Battle knocked down a three to extend the lead to 30 at 61-31 with 6:35 left.

Reminiscent of the first half, Battle hit threes on back-to-back possessions as the game entered its last media timeout. Now up 70-33, Ohio State emptied its bench and coasted out the win.

What's next

Ohio State gets a nine-day Christmas break before returning to action against West Virginia in Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. with the game set to be broadcast by FOX.

Game notes

• With Okpara's absence, Ohio State experimented with some interesting small-ball lineups. This saw both Battle and Devin Royal play center.
• Freshman center Austin Parks entered the contest earlier than he has any other this season, subbing in with 13:22 to play. He scored his first career point on a free throw with 2:50 to play.
• Thornton had to be taken back to Ohio State's locker room midway through the second half after taking a hard fall during the game. He later returned to Ohio State's bench without any evident wraps, braces or bandages, however.
• Walk-on Colby Baumann scored his first career points, making a pair of free throws with 2:38 to play. He finished with four points.