Ohio State’s Jake Diebler, Cincinnati’s Wes Miller preview charity game
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler and Cincinnati coach Wes Miller preview Friday’s charity exhibition game.
CINCINNATI – University of Cincinnati forward Simas Lukosius came around a curl screen and found nothing but daylight. With his would-be defender left in the dust, Lukosius squared up, fired and sunk the jumper from the right elbow.
Crouched near the visitors’ bench, Ohio State coach Jake Diebler whirled around to face associate head coach Joel Justus with a look of disbelief on his face.
“What was that?” Diebler asked, seemingly struggling to understand why Lukosius had been so wide open.
It was that kind of night for the Ohio State men’s basketball team, which came to Fifth Third Arena for a charity exhibition game and left with plenty of tape showing areas in need of improvement before the games count for real. The No. 20 Bearcats never trailed and led by as many as 27 points while handing Ohio State an 80-62 defeat Friday night.
None of the statistics carry over to the regular season, and coaches for both teams spoke this week about the ability to use this game as a litmus test to help shape practices during the second half of the preseason. Diebler will have plenty to dissect as Cincinnati controlled the glass, forced the Buckeyes into contested shots and generally shot the heck out of the ball.
“Make no mistake, I wanted us to play better,” Diebler said. “But, the intent was to get exposed in a couple areas so we have a couple weeks leading into our first game to get better in.”
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Without projected starting center Aaron Bradshaw, who watched the game from the bench after taking an elbow to the head in practice, Ohio State never led against the No. 20 Bearcats. A Meechie Johnson lob to Sean Stewart for a dunk tied the game at 4, but Cincinnati’s Dan Skillings Jr. corralled his own 3-point miss for a layup to make it 6-4 and mark a second consecutive possession with points for the Bearcats.
It was the start of a run of six straight possessions with points for Cincinnati, which opened up a 16-6 lead in the process. As the Buckeyes came up empty on five straight possessions, one-time Ohio State commitment Dillon Mitchell came from the weak side to swat a Bruce Thornton layup attempt. Running up the court, Mitchell got to the rim and slammed home a one-handed dunk with his left hand as the home crowd erupted.
The lead would grow as high as 17 points during the half when Mitchell took a pass from Day Day Thomas and dunked that, too, with about three minutes left. That made it 36-19, but the Buckeyes would rally somewhat to close the half.
Starting with a Micah Parrish isolation play ending with a jumper near the paint, Ohio State scored on five straight possessions to build a 12-3 run capped by a Ques Glover layup that got the Buckeyes within 39-31. Mitchell, again, answered, this time with a fadeaway jumper over Devin Royal, and it remained a 41-31 Cincinnati lead at the break.
To that point, Cincinnati was 7 for 14 from 3 (50.0%) while Ohio State was 2 for 8 (25.0%). The Bearcats shot 54.2% (32 for 59) overall and 38.5% (10 for 26) from deep, while the Buckeyes were 35.8% (19 for 53) and 33.3% (6 for 18), respectively.
Cincinnati out-rebounded Ohio State 38-21 and turned 17 Buckeyes turnovers into 24 points.
“We didn’t come out to lose,” Thornton said. “It’s good that we have some adversity, see how people respond. It’s a whole new team.”
Bradshaw is expected to return to practice next week.
“Don’t anticipate him being out very long,” Diebler said. “He’s working his way back. Hopefully in the next few days.”
When Micah Parrish led Ohio State onto the court for warmups with 21 minutes until tip, the Buckeyes were met with a smattering of boos from the local fans. Moments later, Parrish, Meechie Johnson and Bruce Thornton represented the team during the pregame captains’ meeting.
Diebler substituted liberally, playing all scholarship players save for Kalen Etzler by halftime, and used different lineups to start each half. Ohio State started Thornton, Johnson, Evan Mahaffey, Parrish and Sean Stewart. For the second half, it was Johnson, Thornton, John “Juni” Mobley Jr., Devin Royal and Austin Parks.
Etzler was the final scholarship player to see action, subbing in with 3:29 to play and Cincinnati ahead 74-51. Freshman walk-on guard Braylen Nash was the only unused substitute for the Buckeyes.
Proceeds from the game benefitted mental health charities as well as the schools’ name, image and likeness collectives. Before the game, both teams lined up near midcourt as $25,000 checks were presented to The Joe Burrow Foundation, Lindner Center of Hope and Jay’s Light.
Ohio State will have one more tune-up before the Nov. 4 season opener against Texas in Las Vegas. The Buckeyes will play Ohio University in a closed-door, “secret” scrimmage on Oct. 27.
Parrish and Johnson led Ohio State with 11 points each. Mitchell and Lukosius led Cincinnati with 12 points each.
