The story of the game on Thursday night in Columbus was the play of freshman star Jared Sullinger, as Ohio State moved to 7-0 on the season with a 75-64 victory over the IUPUI Jaguars. Sullinger had his way in the paint against the Jaguars on his way to a season-high 40 points. Despite a great showing from IUPUI, they had no answer for Sullinger all night long, who complemented his point total with 13 rebounds. Much credit should be given to the Jaguars for playing tough in Columbus and giving the Buckeyes a serious run for their money, and the final score does not indicate the challenge posed to Ohio State. However, even more credit must go to Sullinger, who led the Buckeyes to victory in an otherwise down game after the long layoff since the game against Florida State.
The game got off to a fast start on both ends, with hot shooting from both the Buckeyes and the Jaguars. IUPUI forward star Alex Young hit two quick three’s and the Jaguars jumped out to a 14-10 lead by the first break in action. It looked like the game would be an up-tempo style of play, with plenty of transition baskets.
Coming out of the break, William Buford hit his second three of the game and quickly followed it with a fast-break dunk courtesy of a David Lighty steal and assist. Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas saw their first time on the floor at the 14:00 mark in the first half, but it was Jared Sullinger who really established himself as the freshman to watch in the game early on, clearing out defenders down low and taking the ball hard to the hoop. Jon Diebler also found his shooting touch early, knocking down a pair of three’s, pulling Ohio State into the lead with the second of the pair.
As the half moved along, the Buckeye defense tightened the clamps a bit on IUPUI, causing their scoring pace to slacken significantly, but the Jaguars hung tough. Alex Young hit yet another three-pointer, giving him 11 points for the game and tying the game at 28 with around four minutes to go in the first. The Buckeyes continued to pound the ball into Sullinger, who obliged by picking up fouls on the various defenders trying to check him and earning trips to the line. However, the Jaguars kept their good shooting alive with three’s from both Stephen Thomas and Young, and the game went into halftime tied at 35-35.
As the second half got underway, the Buckeyes went right back to their bread and butter from the first half, getting the ball into Jared Sullinger, who immediately picked up the 4th foul on IUPUI’s Christian Siakam and knocked down two more free throws. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes didn’t make any apparent adjustments on the defensive end, and the Jaguars jumped out to a six-point lead.
A John Ashworth three put IUPUI up by nine with under 13 minutes to go in the second, but Jon Diebler answered with his own three, and the crowd at the Schott came alive. The momentum picked up some more as Jared Sullinger brought home a two-handed slam on a fast break, followed by a pretty William Buford layin off another fast break. Jared Sullinger took a charge on the defensive end to cap a 7-0 Buckeye run, and IUPUI was forced to take a time out to try to regroup.
As the intensity picked up heading down the stretch, Jared Sullinger continued his dominating play and put Ohio State up by two on an And-1 basket. Alex Young came back with his own two for the Jaguars, but Sullinger once again answered. Diebler made a huge three to put the Buckeyes up, and then hit Sullinger for a dunk on a drive-and-dish to increase the lead to five.
In the closing minutes of the game, Ohio State pulled away with strong defensive play leading to turnovers and quick baskets. Sullinger kept adding to his point total, prompting chants of “Sully! Sully!” in the Schott. Our freshman big man finished 16-23 at the free throw line on the night. Alex Young led IUPUI with 20, and Leroy Nobles added 16 for the Jaguars, who shot over 50% on field goals. Buford had 14 and Diebler 13 for the Bucks, who matched IUPUI’s shooting percentage.
Thad chose to only play five players for the vast majority of the second half, and Dallas Lauderdale didn’t see the floor at all after the break. It will be interesting to see how both the team overall and Sullinger follow up tonight’s performance in this weekend’s game against Western Carolina. The game will be played in classic St. John Arena on Sunday at 2:00pm.
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