Ohio State center Christoph Tilly has a solid Buckeye debut

Ohio State's big-time transfer from Santa Clara got his Buckeye career off to a good start. Christoph Tilly, the 7-footer from Germany, played his first three seasons out west for Santa Clara. In Ohio State's 2025-2026 season opener against Indiana University-Indianapolis, the big man had a rock-solid debut as a Buckeye.

Tilly was the Buckeyes' leading scorer in the 118-102 victory. He had 28 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block. Last year at Santa Clara, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game. His 28 points in the first game of the season for Ohio State are also a career high for Tilly.

One area of concern in his Buckeye debut is that Tilly finished the game with four personal fouls. The good still far outweighed the bad. Tilly was a fantastic 9 of 11 from the field, including 1 of 2 from three-point range. Shooting 81.8% from the field is a great way to start a season and for a new team. He was also solid at the foul line, making 9 of his 13 free throws.

Ohio State has lacked a reliable scorer from the center and post positions in recent years. That makes Buckeye fans hopeful about Christoph Tilly, even though it is on opening night and against a team that was severely overmatched against Ohio State.

His interior presence had a lot to do with the Bucks winning the rebound battle, 41-25. It also went a long way in the Buckeyes' attacking the rim, and getting to shoot 53 foul shots. As a team, they made 42 of them (79.2%).

It's only the season opener of the 2025-2026 season, but there's plenty for the team and fans to be hopeful about. Hope that, with new key players in important places, Ohio State will start to get it right in the Jake Diebler era.