Scarlet Sunrise: Buckeyes proud of their fight in season-ending loss to Bulldogs
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Buckeyes proud of their fight in season-ending loss to Bulldogs
Ohio State went down, 15-8, in the first half and responded.
Ohio State went down, 51-39, in the second half and responded.
Ohio State went down, 60-47, in the second half and responded.
The Buckeyes answered a 10-2 Georgia run, then a 15-4 Georgia run and then a 9-0 Georgia run in Tuesday night’s NIT quarterfinal. Most notably, head coach Jake Diebler’s team used 17 straight points in the second half to turn an 11-point deficit into a six-point lead. At one point trailing by as many as 13 points in the final frame, the Buckeyes willed themselves back into the driver’s seat with under five minutes to go.
“Just continue to stick together. Stay connected. Just don’t flinch,” grad transfer guard Dale Bonner said of Ohio State’s mindset down the stretch. “I would just say we just stayed connected and just battled.”
Except, Georgia had one more bullet in the chamber. The Bulldogs made 5-of-6 shots in the game’s final moments, including a go-ahead, step-back jumper from Noah Thomasson with 36 ticks to go.
Jamison Battle missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer from the wing the following possession. Then, after Georgia’s Blue Cain made two free throws, Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton got to the charity stripe. He connected on his first attempt but missed the second. A Bonner steal gave the Buckeyes one last chance — well, two last chances actually.
Thornton’s potential game-winning 3-pointer hit back iron. But an Ohio State offensive rebound set the stage for one final shot with 1.2 seconds remaining. Diebler drew up a play for his best shooter, Battle.
“Go down, Fe (Felix Okpara) sets the screen and then come back up off the little curl action,” Battle, a fifth-year grad transfer, explained. “And I thought it was good.
“But, in the end, every shot I take, I feel like it’s going in. So it was just another shot. Got the hip turn that me and Coach [Brandon] Bailey work on every day. And off the hands, I felt like it was good, and then it rimmed out. Everything kind of hit me in that moment.”
Diebler noted: “I thought it was in until it hit the front rim.”
Ohio State saw its season end on its home court, three games into an NIT run. Except, the disappointment afterward in the Schottenstein Center was outweighed by the appreciation and optimism showed by the 7,641 fans in attendance, many of whom stayed through the final “Carmen Ohio” of the season.
Students chanted, “DIEBLER, DIEBLER, DIEBLER.” Battle high-fived the Buckeyes faithful as he left the court, closing a short but memorable and undeniably impactful chapter in program history.
“I’m proud of the way we responded to multiple lead changes and the fight that we showed and the energy in the building from our crowd that helped us rally to take the lead,” Diebler said. “I’m just proud of the way our guys fought all the way to the end.”
The new Ohio State head coach added: “I thought we fought in a manner that represented what this program needs to be about.”
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Quinshon Judkins, Caleb Downs shed black stripes after sixth practice of spring football
A pair of big-time Ohio State transfer additions lost their black stripes Tuesday after the sixth practice of spring football: former Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins and former Alabama safety Caleb Downs.
Judkins is teaming up with TreVeyon Henderson to form possibly the best backfield tandem in the country. Downs is joining an already top-tier defense after a true freshman season in which he earned second-team AP All-American honors.
For more on Judkins, go here.
For more on Downs, go here.
Keenan Bailey looking for tough tight end unit, not Cade Stover replacement
Ohio State second-year tight ends coach Keenan Bailey isn’t trying to find one player to replace the production of Cade Stover, who was the Big Ten Tight End of the Year in 2023 and who could be the third or fourth tight end off the board in this year’s NFL Draft.
“The unit’s got to be the best tight end unit in the conference, best in the country,” Bailey said. “That’s Ohio State. That’s why you came here, to be the best.
“So I don’t know if just one person is gonna step in and be Cade Stover. I’m not asking anyone to do that. I’m asking the whole unit to be the toughest unit on the team, hardest-working on the team. And I think we’ll like our results.”
For the full story, head on over here.
Counting Down
Buckeyes vs. Akron: 157 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 248 days
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