Buckeyes stave off second half surge from USC, close out west coast swing with a win

COLUMBUS – Ohio State led by as many as 17 points in the first half but USC made things interesting second half. In the end, the Buckeyes were able to salt the game away and end their west coast swing with a win.

Final score: Ohio State 87, USC 82. Jake Diebler’s team improves to 16-13 on the season and 8-10 in Big Ten Conference play.

Junior point guard Bruce Thornton and senior guard Micah Parrish led the Buckeyes with 20 points a piece. Thornton added five assists while Parrish had three assists and two rebounds in addition to some clutch second-half defense.

Freshman guard John Mobley Jr. finished with 18 points while going five of six from the free throw line in second half.

Sophomore forward Devin Royal had 13 points including the game-winning basket. Coming out of a timeout with the game tied at 80, the Buckeyes threw the ball to Royal in the corner who backed down a USC defender before banking in a turnaround jumper. Royal hit the ensuing free throw to make it 83-80 with 41 seconds left in the game.

Parrish then stole the ball away from USC guard to Desmond Claude on the Trojans next possession to all but clinch the win for the Buckeyes. The two teams then trade free throws in the final 40 seconds to make the final score Ohio State 87, USC 82.

The Buckeyes only have two regular season games remaining before the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State is back home for the final time against Nebraska on March 4. They then travel to Bloomington to face Indiana on March 8 in the regular season finale. Ohio State likely needs to win both to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament in Jake Diebler’s first season at the helm.

Ohio State remaining basketball schedule

March 4 vs. Nebraska
March 8 at Indiana
March 12-16 Big Ten Tournament (Indianapolis)