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Ohio State welcomed a national top-10 nonconference opponent in to Value City Arena for the first time in seven years on Wednesday night.
And the Buckeyes wasted no time in showing how rude a host they could be. OSU’s Duane Washington Jr. hit three early three-pointers and helped the Buckeyes grab a 17-3 lead before many had found their seats.
The 18th-ranked Buckeyes led by as many as 27 points in the first half and 30 in the second on their way to knocking off No. 10 Villanova 76-51 as part of the Gavitt Games series before 16,419 Wednesday night at Value City Arena.
“Players win games, that’s what I told our team after the game,” said OSU coach Chris Holtmann. “And their play was the reason for tonight’s win. They were really ready for tonight’s game.
“There have probably been two or three times as a coach where I have been a part of a game where almost everything goes your way. We were in a really good rhythm. The question now for us is how do we continue to grow and how do we respond when things don’t go our way.”
Washington led the Buckeyes (3-0) with 14 points and five rebounds. He was 4 of 6 on threes. The basket must have looked a mile wide for him. His early heroics got the crowd into the game early and the intensity rarely waned.
“I wouldn’t say I anticipated those threes would be that wide open,” said Washington, who made his second start this season in place of injured senior Andre Wesson (eye socket injury). “I was just taking what the defense was giving me and trusting in my teammates to find me in the right spots. I was trusting my shot and knocking them down.”
Luther Muhammad had 11 points, while D.J. Carton had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.
“With us, what’s special is we a very deep and very skilled throughout our whole roster,” Carton said. “Our scrimmage team did a good job getting us ready for this game. We knew we had to have a big start.”
Kaleb Wesson had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while C.J. Walker had 10 points and seven assists.
“This feels really good,” said Walker, eligible at OSU for the first time this season after transferring from Florida State. “We worked really hard in the off-season and we came together as a team. We knew this would be a hard fought game. We just wanted to stick together. We had a groove going there early in the game,:
This was a total team effort as OSU also got eight points and seven rebounds from Kyle Young and eight points as well from E.J. Liddell.
The Buckeyes shot 60 percent from the floor (30 of 50), including 56 percent on threes (9 of 16).
This game marked just the fifth time in the 22-year history of Value City Arena where OSU has hosted a top-10 nonconference opponent. It was also part of the annual eight-game Gavitt Games series, matching Big Ten and Big East teams within the first 10 days of each new season.
But instead of a competitive game, Ohio State’s defense made Villanova look like many of the guarantee game opponents who traipse through VCA with regularity.
It was a rough night shooting for Villanova (1-1), which shot 31 percent from the floor and 33 percent on threes.
“Villanova missed shots that we saw them in their exhibition and in the Army game we saw them make,” Holtmann said.
Jermaine Samuels had 14 points, Cole Swider scored 11 and Collin Gillespie added 10 points.
“Much credit and respect goes to Ohio State,” said Villanova coach Jay Wright, whose team opened with a win over Army eight days ago. “They were dialed in right from the start. We did not do as good a job getting our guys ready and prepared. That was a well drilled, very disciplined team that knows their roles.
“I give Chris a lot of credit. I like their team a lot. I knew we would have a lot to learn. I didn’t think we would be that far behind at this point.”
None of OSU’s three opponents this season have shot better than 33 percent from the floor.
“We have had a real consistent defensive approach in all three games,” Holtmann said. “There have been some lulls here and there. But we have had pretty consistent effort on that end.”
A year ago, Ohio State rode wins over Cincinnati and Creighton in the first week of the season to an NCAA Tournament berth in March. OSU already has wins over Cincinnati and Villanova to open this season, but much more could be in the offing.
“We found out we’re very hungry,” Carton said after the win. “We think we have some things to prove. There are still a lot of things we can improve on. We just need to keep playing together as a unit.”
Holtmann did a prolonged postgame interview oncourt with the Fox Sports 1 broadcast crew of Tim Brando and former Ohio State star Jim Jackson. He then retreated to the delirious OSU locker room.
“I was just really happy for our guys,” the coach said. “To see the guys enjoy the moment, I know how hard they work. That makes you feel good as a coach.”
As It Happened
The Buckeyes went 7-1/2 minutes without making a basket in their season-opening win over Cincinnati. They were scoreless through 3-1/2 minutes in their second game against UMass-Lowell.
But the suspense over who would score the first basket was over 21 seconds into this one as Walker found Washington for a quick three.
Walker found Washington again for a three before he hit one himself as the Buckeyes went up 9-0, causing Villanova’s Wright to call a timeout. Villanova’s Jeremiah Robinson-Earl got his team on the board with a three.
But OSU came right back. Walker had a driving layup, was fouled and made a free throw. Washington then converted a Walker steal and assist into a breakway jam. Walker then drove and dished to Washington for another three and a 17-3 lead with 16:58 left in the first half.
Villanova still trailed 21-7 after a reverse by Robinson-Earl. But Ohio State went on a 15-3 run to get the lead out to 26 points. This string included a free throw by Carton, a three by Muhammad off a Carton pass, a Young layup off a Carton pass, a stop-and-start drive by Walker for a layup, a spinning bank shot by Wesson, another drive by Walker and finally a three from the top of the key by Muhammad to make it 36-10 with 6:34 left in the half.
Carton pulled off a remarkable play moments later. His shot on the left block was blocked. He went down to retrieve the ball and then threw up an overhead bank shot that went in for a 38-12 lead. Moments later, Wesson bagged a pair of free throws as OSU went up 27 at 40-13 with 2:26 left in the half.
At this point, Villanova was 4 of 23 from the floor, 2 of 10 on threes and had nine turnovers.
Villanova answered with its best run of the night, scoring the last nine points of the half. Six of those came on consecutive hard drives by Gillespie. Cole Swider swished a three with 20 seconds left to cut the halftime deficit to 40-22.
Washington had 11 points and Walker scored 10 for Ohio State in that first half.
The curiosity meter was high to see if these upstart Buckeyes could maintain their first-half momentum. They drew first blood as Wesson threw an alley oop to his frontcourt mate Young. Young then went around the smaller Gillespie in the post for a layup.
But Nova’s Swider tallied twice – including a three-pointer – to cut the OSU lead to 49-30.
The Buckeyes began to assert themselves again as they gradually built the lead. This included a Washington three from the top of the key, a Wesson layup off a lob, an E.J. Liddell three off a Walker pass, a Carton pull-up jumper, two free throws by Washington and Carton taking a back door pass from Young and throwing down a one-handed jam over Swider. That play brought the house down and put OSU up 28 at 60-32 with 9:28 left.
“I just knew we needed a big play,” Carton said. “It was a good play call by the coach and a great pass by Kyle. He put me in a great position to make a play.”
The lead went to 30 points moments later as Liddell, with the shot clock running down, hitting a fallaway three to make it 65-35 with 6:54 left.
Also Notable
* The 25-point margin of victory is Ohio State’s largest against a top-10 team since March 6, 2011, when the Buckeyes crushed Wisconsin 93-65.
* Kaleb Wesson recorded his second double-double of the season and the eighth of his career.
* Poll Rankings: Ohio State, 16th in AP poll, 16th in USA Today coaches poll; Villanova, 10th in AP poll, 10th in USA Today coaches poll.
* OSU-Villanova Series: Ohio State is 3-1 all-time against Villanova. This will be the teams’ first-ever on-campus meeting.
This is the schools’ first meeting since the 2003 Maui Invitational, where Ohio State took a 67-66 win. The other match-ups came in the 1939 NCAA Tournament (won by Ohio State 53-36) and the 1974 Rainbow Classic in Hawaii (won by Villanova 87-86).
* The Buckeyes are 30-7 at home in two-plus years under Chris Holtmann.
* This is the 22nd season for Ohio State basketball at Value City Arena. Including vacated games, OSU is 40-26 all-time against ranked teams at VCA. That includes a 15-7 record against top-10 teams.
* OSU last hosted a top-10 nonconference opponent on Dec. 22, 2012, when then-No. 9 Kansas came in and took a 74-66 win. Kansas was also ranked ninth when it visited VCA and won in 2000. The Buckeyes defeated both No. 7 Florida and No. 3 Duke at home early in the 2011-12 Final Four season.
* In eight seasons as a college head coach, Holtmann’s teams are now a combined 18-28 against ranked teams. That includes a 9-13 mark against top-10 teams.
At Ohio State, Holtmann’s teams are 5-13 against ranked teams and 3-5 against top-10 teams. Those previous top-10 wins were over No. 1 Michigan State and at No. 3 Purdue in the 2017-18 season.
* During his three years at Butler, Holtmann’s teams were a combined 2-4 against Villanova. Both of the wins occurred in 2016-17 when his Butler team’s defeated then-No. 1 Villanova 68-58 at home and then-No. 2 Villanova 74-66 on the road.
* Gavitt Games: The Gavitt Tipoff Games is an annual series between the Big Ten and Big East Conferences and named in honor of Dave Gavitt, founder of the Big East and basketball visionary.
The series is in its fifth year and will span eight years with games being played on home sites. The Games will be played in the first full week of the college basketball season. The Buckeyes are now 3-0 in the event with previous wins vs. Providence (72-67) in 2016 and at Creighton (69-60) a year ago.
* Next On The Docket: The Buckeyes will host Stetson on Monday night. That game will tip at 8:30 p.m. and will be televised by Big Ten Network. Stetson is 2-0 going into a game at Purdue-Fort Wayne on Friday.
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