Ohio State rides success streak in 68-46 road win against Rutgers

Not that the win was exactly pretty, but Ohio State secured a conference road win in convincing fashion.

After back-to-back quality home wins over No. 4 Michigan State and Maryland, the Buckeyes took a hot streak into New Jersey. Ohio State basketball, riding their greatest streak of success in the last few seasons, looked to stay perfect in conference. 

Rutgers looked like a perfect spoiler; a trip to face a conference opponent is a task in itself. Throw in the added implication of college kids ‘feeling themselves’ and Rutgers’ superb defense, which holds opposing teams to a 38.5-shooting-percentage looked like potential trap.

Things started slow for Ohio State and it looked like the upset could be underway. It took some brute force, but Ohio State played well enough in the first half to lead 28-15 after 20 minutes.

While the Buckeyes didn’t have their best shooting night, Rutgers made scoring look nearly impossible. Their 15 first-half points were far from easy, a trend that would continue throughout play.

If a Rutgers win was ever in play, it would’ve likely taken a plus performance from senior forward Deshawn Freeman. Instead, Freeman shot a miserable 1-of-12 from the floor without a rebound to his credit.

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While Freeman didn’t play well, it’s next to impossible to win shooting 28.8-percent as a team. Considering it took until the 13:13 mark in the second half for the Scarlet Knights to crack the 20-point mark, Rutgers never put themselves in a position to win.

Meanwhile for Ohio State, Keita Bates-Diop lead the team in scoring with 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting (2-of-7 from three), while grabbing 9 rebounds.

While it was far from Bates-Diop’s best performance, freshman Kaleb Wesson shot 4-of-8 for 10 points, grabbing 9 rebounds. Factor in some sharp shooting from Kam Williams, who scored 11 on 4-of-5 shooting (2-of-3 from three) and you’ve got enough firepower to knock-off a tough-defending Rutgers team.

Next: Buckeyes Football: Grading the defensive coaches

Tonight’s 68-46 victory marked Ohio State’s fifth in a row and 10th in their last 11 games. More importantly, it marked a 6-0 start to conference play, 15-4 overall. The win should be enough to earn Ohio State their first Top 25 appearance of the season.