Back on track…sort of
After blowing halftime leads against ranked opponents in Ohio State’s last two outings, the Buckeyes shook off a pesky Coppin State team in one of the more uglier games you can possibly to watch to claim a 47-39 victory over the Eagles at Value City Arena, Monday night.
Nine days ago, Ohio State held a 10-point advantage heading into intermission against Butler, only to end up losing 65-46 thanks to a second half meltdown.
Prior to that, Ohio State was leading 32-29 at halftime against top-ranked North Carolina, but couldn’t hit the cold Olentangy River waters if they were throwing a beach ball off the Lane Avenue bridge in the final 20 minutes of action and ended up on the losing end to the Tar Heels, 66-55.
Ohio State head coach Thad Matta altered the starting lineup for the first time this season inserting freshman Evan Turner, who replaced Jon Diebler.
Turner, along with senior guard Jamar Butler, both had 13 points to lead the Buckeyes.
The 39 points allowed by the Buckeyes is the lowest total by an OSU opponent in the shot clock era (since 1985) and the lowest since Delaware was held to 38 points Jan. 11, 1960 in St. John Arena.
It appeared that the rout was on early when the Buckeyes jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two, 3-pointers by Turner that was sandwiched by a layup from Kosta Koufos.
But Coppin State clawed back and eventually took a brief 16-15 lead with 5:02 left in the first half when Tywain McKee drained a triple.
The Eagles last lead came at the 10:42 mark in the second half when Eddie Hayden scored on a jumper that put Coppin State on top 36-35.
The Buckeyes were ahead by just two points with under four minutes remaining until Othello Hunter scored on a layup before Turner drained a three-ball and dropped in a short jumper in the lane.
Ohio State was 43.9 percent from the field for the game, but only took 41 shots, making 18. The Buckeyes were also 8-of-22 from beyond the arc.
Two troubling statistics: Ohio State only went to the foul line six times, making three. Another is that even though Coppin State did not have a player taller than 6-foot-7, the Eagles outrebounded the Buckeyes 32-22, including 13 offensive caroms.
Up next, the Buckeyes host the Blue Hose from Presbyterian College, Saturday afternoon. Tip-off at Value City Arena is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET, and it will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
