Ohio State basketball destroys Santa Clara

The Ohio State basketball team was hoping to win the Emerald Coast Classic after beating Alabama on Friday night. It was a solid non-conference win that will be a good resume-builder down the line. They were hoping to get another one against undefeated Santa Clara.

They got it in a big way. The Buckeyes jumped out to the lead early in the game and never looked back. They took down Santa Clara 86-56. A 30-point blowout was the perfect way to win this non-conference tournament and it showcased several good Buckey performances.

Jamison Battle was the leading scorer in the game for the Bucks. He had 21 points on 8/18 shooting. He made 5/10 from three though, which is important moving forward. The Buckeyes have had issues shooting from deep under Chris Holtmann, so that was nice to see.

Bruce Thornton had another solid game, adding 13 points of his own to go along with 7 assists and 5 rebounds. He has done a good job early in this season getting his teammates into the game and dictating the pace of the offense. He’s been the best overall player for Ohio State.

Zed Key and Dale Bonner were the other double-figure scorers for the Ohio State basketball team. They had 10 and 11 points respectively. Both played very well off the bench and gave the Buckeyes a spark. They are key members of the rotation, so it was good to see those scoring totals.

Ohio State did an excellent job of taking care of the ball. They only had 7 turnovers. They also forced the Broncos into 15 turnovers, so they did a good job of winning the turnover battle. It’s something their football counterparts could have learned too.

It’s been a good start so far for the Ohio State basketball team. They’re better than a lot of people expected so far, including me. It has been refreshing.