No. 15 Texas A&M controls glass, holds off Ohio State

COLUMBUS — Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said this week that Texas A&M has one of the best backcourts the Buckeyes will face this season.

The Aggies might just have one of the best backcourts in the country.

The pairing of Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford — Texas A&M’s top-two leading scorers last year — showed up immediately Friday night.

And they didn’t go away.

They combined for 42 points. Radford had 11 in the first half, and Taylor had 16 points in the second. They made a home for themselves in the paint. That was the Aggies’ name of the game in The Schottenstein Center, as No. 15 Texas A&M (2-0) overpowered the Buckeyes (1-1), 38-30, inside and held a 45-35 edge on the boards in a 73-66 win.

“Just rebounding and hitting free throws,” Ohio State star point guard Bruce Thornton said, when diagnosing the difference Friday. “Those are the two main keys I feel like put ourselves so far back in the game. Because when a team gets so many second-chance points, having an extra effort on defense is two times harder because you’re just scrambling.”

While Taylor and Radford teamed up for seven of Texas A&M’s first 11 points, Ohio State’s guards made a statement of their own in the opening minutes.

Thornton knocked down a game-opening 3-pointer after Minnesota transfer Jamison Battle passed out of a double team, and Roddy Gayle Jr. swung a pass from the top of the arc.

Speaking of Gayle, he had two rebounds in the first eight minutes, and one of them led to a sequence where Thornton sent Texas A&M forward Henry Coleman III flying with a shot fake and then cashed in for his second 3-pointer, this one staking the Buckeyes to a 14-11 advantage.

Aside from Thornton, however, Ohio State’s early-season struggles from outside continued. After all, the Buckeyes shot just 28.0% from long range in their opening win against Oakland.

Battle helped that cause, converting from the corner to extend Ohio State’s lead to 21-17. He added another triple after the Aggies briefly stole the lead a few minutes later.

The problem for the Buckeyes was, Ohio State was getting worked on the glass. Holtmann pointed out this week that Texas A&M returned the bulk of its NCAA Tournament team from last year, a group that was fifth in the country in offensive rebounding percentage, according to KenPom.

The Aggies haven’t skipped a beat in that category. They had eight offensive boards in the first half, and those led to 13 second-chance points, including two points from Coleman after two misses were cleaned up at the rim and three points from Radford after an Andersson Garcia missed layup.

Coleman — a one-time Duke Blue Devil — feasted inside for 10 first-half points, accounting for five of the Aggies’ final eight field goals in the opening period. Ohio State centers Felix Okpara and Zed Key had a hard time handling the 6-foot-8, 245-pound big man. By half, he nearly had a double-double (10 points, nine rebounds, most notably three on the offensive end of the floor).

Ohio State led for 16:12 of the first half and was up, 33-28, after a 9-2 run that was highlighted by the second crowd-igniting, Thornton-to-Gayle alley-oop dunk of the season.

But Texas A&M closed the frame on a 6-0 spurt, taking a 34-33 advantage into the break, in part thanks to four free throws down the stretch of the period and also because the Buckeyes missed their final three field goal attempts, all 3-pointers.

It seemed like no one could stop Coleman in the paint until Penn State transfer Evan Mahaffey swatted away his layup attempt close to four minutes into the second half. The highlight-reel defensive play by Mahaffey — who was limited by foul trouble in the opener — set the stage for a fastbreak layup by Baylor transfer Dale Bonner, just Ohio State’s second field goal of the period.

Then the backcourt showdown from the start of the first half resumed. Thornton was shouldering the load for the Buckeyes, getting to his spots in the mid range and even drawing a foul on Garcia with a crafty jab step. On the other end, Texas A&M was striking with its lightning and thunder: Taylor sunk two shots, and Radford sliced to the cup for a trio of makes inside, the last of which buoyed the Aggies to a 44-41 lead.

For the second game in a row, Key came off the bench and gave the Buckeyes a second-half boost. He scored three of Ohio State’s next five buckets, helping Holtmann’s squad tie the game at 51-51. That stretch saw Key flash his patented finger guns after he finished a feed from Gayle — one of the sophomore’s career-high six assists — although Key did miss the ensuing free throw.

The Aggies’ guard tandem, and namely Taylor, kept doing its thing. Taylor had already made an off-balanced layup, plus the complementary free throw, and then went on to connect a physical floater, complete with a stare down of Thornton. He later followed a screen and then scooted by Okpara for two more points, giving Texas A&M a 59-54 advantage with 5:38 remaining.

Taylor kept it going down the stretch, routinely silencing Ohio State fans in attendance. He was aided by his partners in crime, Radford and Coleman. That trio finished with 62 points.

And, despite Thornton’s best efforts — he had 24 points and five assists — the Buckeyes didn’t have enough firepower to keep pace. In fact, with the exception of one Mahaffey layup, Thornton was the only Ohio State player to make a field goal in the final nine minutes of play.

“I think we just felt comfortable with the ball being in his hands,” Holtmann said of Thornton. “With the way they play, I think he was able to both get to the line and get to the basket at times. But we do need some other guys to be able to make plays and score the ball.”

A composed Thornton noted: “I still have the same faith in my teammates.”