Ohio State Basketball: Buckeyes struggle early but come on strong to win

Once again the Ohio State basketball team struggled in the first half but pushed on the gas to come out with a convincing victory.

Ohio State defeated High Point 82-64 to improve to 12-1 on the season but once again it was an up and down game for the Buckeyes. They were off to a strong start and it looked like the game would be a blowout. Then a scoring drought enabled the Panthers to take the lead around the midpoint of the first half.

High Point players were getting offensive rebounds and most of the loose balls and that didn’t sit well with Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann. During a timeout he must have conveyed his displeasure to his players because they went on a roll after that taking a 37-28 lead into halftime and never looked back.

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The Buckeyes won the second half 45-36 but it wasn’t that close as the Panthers padded their stats after Ohio State starters came out of the game.

C.J. Jackson led the Buckeyes in scoring with 20 points. Other players in double figures were Kaleb Wesson (17), Luther Muhammad (15) and Andre Wesson (10).

Quick takes:

Luther Muhammad is a beast on defense and in this game he held Jahaad Proctor, who is averaging 22 ppg, to only 4 points on 2 of 9 shooting. I haven’t seen a true freshman take as much pride in his defensive play since Aaron Craft was giving older players grief.

Oh yeah, Muhammad is pretty good on offense too and he had his best scoring day so far.

This young Ohio State team always plays hard but often has a bad spell in the first half because of bad decisions on both offense and defense. The Buckeyes need to clean that up now as the Big Ten schedule is about to resume.

Ohio State’s free throw percentage has been pretty good so far this season but it was only 50 percent today. The Buckeyes have also had problems from the free throw line late in games. That has to be straightened up in conference play because there are sure to be plenty of tight games.

Overall it has been a terrific start for the Buckeyes heading into full-time Big Ten play. Few thought the Buckeyes would be 12-1 at this point so coach Holtmann has to be pleased with this group.