Junior forward Marc Loving and redshirt sophomore center Trevor Thompson both produced double-doubles to lead Ohio State past VMI, 89-62 Saturday before a crowd of 12,172 spectators at Value City Arena.
Loving scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Thompson, a transfer from Virginia Tech playing his first season for the Buckeyes, scored 13 points and pulled down 10 boards to help Ohio State (3-4) snap a four-game skid.
Junior guard Q.J. Peterson led VMI in scoring with 23 points for his fifth 20-point game of the season. Senior guard Tim Marshall added 12 points and junior guard Julian Eleby added 11 points for the Keydets.
VMI hit 12 three-point shots in the game with Peterson (4), Marshall (4), and Eleby (3) combing for all but one make from beyond the arc. The Keydets, however, could not overcome Ohio State’s height advantage underneath and were outscored 40-14 in points in the paint and 29-5 second chance points. OSU outrebounded the Keydets, 48-27.
Sophomore forward Jae’Sean Tate led the Buckeyes in scoing with 19 points hitting seven of 10 shots from the floor.
Ohio State opened up an early 19-9 lead when Loving connected on a win 3-pointer at the 13:44 mark. The Keydets answered quickly with an 8-0 string when redshirt senior forward Jordan Weethee knocked down a pair of free throws that were followed by consecutive treys by freshman point guard Adrian Rich and Peterson. Loving converted 1 of 2 free throws to end the VMI run, but Marshall knotted the game at 20-20 with a three-ball at the 10:53 mark of the first half
A jumper by OSU guard A.J. Harris put the hosts ahead, 22-20, but the Keydets edged ahead 23-22 when Trey Chapman converted a 3-point play at the 10:14 mark.
JaQuan Lyles steak and layup with 9:38 put the Buckeyes ahead for the rest of the night and set the stage for an 20-9 scoring to finish the half and held VMI to only 2 of its last 12 shot attempts of the frame.
The Keydets trailed 56-42 when Julian Eleby drained his first 3-pointer at the 12:59 mark, but the Buckeyes but four consecutive points by Tate jumpstarted an 11-0 run over the next 59 seconds to quickly push to 25 points. The Keydets were stymied by three consecutive turnovers to help fuel the run.
VMI could only close the gap under 20 points one more time when Eleby’s 3-pointer made it 69-51 with 6:55 left.
The Keydets shot 35.1% from the floor (20-57) and connected on 12 of 31 beyond the arc for 38.7%. VMI continued its recent string of excellent free throw shooting and converted 10 of 12 from the stripe.
Rich dished out a season-high five assists against just one turnover while Chapman made four of five shots from the floor.
The game was VMI’s fourth contest at Ohio State over the last nine seasons.
VMI travels to face Butler Monday night in Indianapolis, Indiana in the first basketball meeting between the schools. Tipoff is 7 p.m.
Press Conference: VMI head coach Dan Earl
“We talked about their (OSU’s) size and length and sometimes we penetrated too much and we were constantly talking about shot making- turning, pivoting, passing out – and at times you’re playing the game and competitive and trying to make the right play, but we were trying to score a little bit too much and they had some blocks and those types of things. The second chance points just killed us. They had 29 second chance points which can’t happen.
“They post a variety of different players and they were looking to go high-low and dump the ball in the paint. We were trying to front and do some different things. They certainly had a bunch of points in the paint. Seventeen offensive rebounds is disappointing as well. We tried to focus on keeping them off the offensive glass. You can’t get into a jumping game with somebody that’s either more athletic than you or taller than you. You have to put a body on them. At times, we did it, but we kind of wore down a bit.”
“I thought Adrian Rich did a good job with his floor game. He looked pretty fast out there and handled the ball. There were some positives from the game, but overall their size just beat up on us.”
“We have to continue to grow and learn in all these non-conference games to get ready for the conference.”
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