Image courtesy of Ohio State athletics
Ohio State (16-13, 8-10 Big Ten) left Los Angeles with a nail-biting 87-82 victory over USC (14-14, 6-11 Big Ten) at the Galen Center on Wednesday night in which it nearly squandered a 17-point lead but used a late three-point play from sophomore forward Devin Royal to survive.
It seemed as if the Buckeyes were going to cruise to a much-needed comfortable win when they used a sparkling first half offensive performance to jump out to a 14-point halftime lead and then increase their advantage to 17 early in the second. But things took a dramatic change when the lid went on the basket for the scarlet and gray after halftime, allowing USC to gradually climb back and tie the game at 80 in the game’s final minute.
But with the team’s NCAA tournament hopes potentially on the line, Ohio State emerged victorious in the end due to the efforts of Royal, who, with 41 seconds left, connected on an old-fashioned three-point play to put his team up three and spark a game-ending 7-2 Scarlet and Gray run that keep their postseason hopes alive.
Ohio State appeared as if it were in for an easy night when it made an impressive 14 of its first 17 shots — including six three-pointers in as many attempts — to jump out to a commanding 36-21 lead with 6:52 left in the half after a Micah Parrish jumper.
USC temporarily stopped the bleeding and made a pair of three-pointers to help spur a 12-6 run to trail 42-33 with 3:41 remaining, but the Trojans seemed to have no match for the sizzling Buckeyes’ offense. The Scarlet and Gray knocked down two more threes in the half on three attempts — one of those coming from true freshman guard Colin White, his first points since Jan. 6 vs. Minnesota — to close the period on a 10-5 run and lead 52-38.
The Buckeyes’ 52 first-half points matched the highest scoring output in a half this season (52 in the second half against Iowa on Jan. 27), while their 73.1 percent shooting in the frame (19 of 26) was the highest by any Big Ten team in a half all year and the highest for the Buckeyes since shooting 71.4 percent (15 of 21) in the second half against Michigan on March 3, 2024.
Ohio State wasn’t nearly as sharp on offense coming out of the break, missing six of its first 16 shots and committing four early turnovers, which allowed USC to cut the deficit down to four, 69-65, with 9:41 left after a three-point play from redshirt freshman guard Wesley Yates III.
A Parrish three on the ensuing possession briefly put things in order, but after a few traded baskets the Trojans scored six straight to find themselves trailing 76-75 with 4:14 left after a transition layup from junior guard Desmond Claude.
Ohio State made four free throws to push the lead back to five, but USC stormed back again with five straight points of its own to tie the game at 80 with just 56 seconds left after a layup from graduate forward ReShaun Agee.
But Royal delivered the game’s biggest basket when he drove from the baseline, spun, and hit an old-fashioned three to lead 83-80 with 41 seconds left. A pair of OSU misses from the free-throw line allowed USC to get one final possession to tie down three, 85-82, but the Buckeyes forced a three-point miss from Yates and John Mobley Jr. hit each of his two free throws on the other end to close out the narrow win.
