Ohio State used a career-best performance from sophomore forward Devin Royal and some strong team defense to get back in the win column Tuesday night at Value City Arena, defeating Jake Diebler’s alma mater 95-73.
Playing without Aaron Bradshaw, Ques Glover, Colin White and Meechie Johnson Jr. — who is taking a leave of absence from the team to tend to a personal matter — Ohio State needed someone to shoulder the load and carry it to a much-needed win, and it got exactly that from Royal, who erupted for a career-high 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting while also adding a career-best 15 rebounds to guide the Buckeyes to the 22-point win.
The Buckeyes also got a much-needed bounce-back performance on the defensive end, holding the Beacons to just 35.8 percent shooting from the field (24 of 67) and 20.8 percent from three (5 of 24)
Although not as bad as the early deficits they faced against Auburn and Maryland, Ohio State found itself trailing 16-14 early in the first half after Valparaiso made three of its first five attempts from three.
But unlike the Auburn game, the Buckeyes quickly erased that deficit due to some stifling defense. They held the Beacons scoreless for 7:07, allowing Ohio State to go on a long 16-2 run to take a 26-16 lead with 6:17 left after two Devin Royal free throws.
True freshman guard John Mobley Jr. was the catalyst behind that run on offense, making a pair of threes in a span of 2:33 during that sequence.
The Buckeyes’ lead was unable to grow any further due to a poor offensive sequence, and the Beacons made four free throws and made two field goals — the first one breaking a 8:00 scoring drought — to trail just 29-24 with 3:24 left after a Devon Ellis layup.
Valparaiso was able to stay within reach, trailing by just six, 36-30, with 40 seconds left, but the game turned when Royal drove in for a strong layup and Micah Parrish stole the ensuing inbounds pass and laid in an and-one layup, giving the Buckeyes a 41-30 lead with 14 seconds left that they would take into the half.
Royal scored 18 points in the first half alone on 6-of-9 shooting along with nine rebounds.
The Pickerington, Ohio, native wasted no time getting going in the second, scoring six early points to allow him to eclipse his career high of 22 points and give the Buckeyes a 47-37 lead. Royal’s final basket of that sequence started a 11-4 run that allowed OSU to lead a comfortable 58-41 with 13:51 left after two Parrish free throws.
Valparaiso did not go down without a fight, cutting the deficit to 13 points on two separate occasions in the ensuing minutes. But the Buckeyes put the final nail in the coffin with a 21-4 run that allowed them to extend their lead to a comfortable 82-52 with 6:02 left after a Sean Stewart fast break layup.
The rest of the game was simply window-dressing for the Buckeyes, who had their lead cut down to 22 with just 25 seconds left due to a late-game scoring ambush from Wright but still were able to empty what was left of their thin bench to cruise to the 22-point win.
Royal, who exited the game with 4:24 to a standing ovation, scored the most points by a Buckeye this season, while he also added his third double-double of the year and had his seventh straight game with double figures in scoring. Mahaffey (15), Thornton (14) and Parrish (14) also scored in double figures on a combined 15-of-27 shooting.
Valparaiso was led by Wright with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while sophomore forward Cooper Schweiger added 16 points and eight rebounds. The Beacons were pummeled inside, with the Buckeyes holding a 52-32 edge in paint points.