COLUMBUS, Ohio — The moment couldn’t have been any better for Kyle Young.
The redshirt senior went to the scorer’s table for his first minutes of the 2021-22 season, his final year with Ohio State. His season started later than expected, missing the season opener against Akron after being diagnosed with a vestibular dysfunction.
The stoppage came and Young checked in to the adoration and roar of a half-full Schottenstein Center: But the redshirt senior forward came in with something else in mind.
He wanted to show he was healthy enough to play.
Young ran down the field toward the hoop, taking a pass from redshirt senior guard Jamari Wheeler in the air and lobbing it down for the and-one.
Young was back. Therefore, Ohio State seemed to be back, at least for a second, giving those in the stands a glimpse of what could be.
But the growing pains remained, as Ohio State left for the locker room at halftime with a one-point lead against another mid-major led by a former Buckeyes assistant coach: Niagara with head coach Greg Paulus.
The Buckeyes (2-0) broke free eventually, using a 14-5 run at the start of the second half to pull away for a 84-74 win against Niagara (0-2).
Niagara cut its deficit to six after a 7-2 run helped by a 3 by guard Marcus Hammond and a 3 by forward Sam Iorio, which was answered with back-to-back 3s by Wheeler to keep the Purple Eagles at arm's length.
Niagara again cut its deficit to six with less than two minutes remaining with a four-point run by guard Justin Roberts and two free throws. But made free throws by Wheeler and Liddell secured the 10-point win for the Buckeyes.
E.J. Liddell leads hot Ohio State offense
While Young had the moment, finishing the game with five points and seven rebounds in X minutes of play, E.J. Liddell once again provided stability.
The Ohio State junior forward scored 18 of Ohio State’s first 42 points, hitting three of his four attempts from deep in the first 20 minutes, along with an assist and a rebound.
Liddell cooled off in the second half,, finishing the game with 29 points — a career-high — and five rebounds with three assists, four blocks and a steal.
Outside of Liddell, no Ohio State player recorded double-digit point totals until redshirt senior forward Justice Sueing hit a jumper for 10 points with 10:04 left in the game.
But Ohio State's offense remained hot against Niagara, shooting 54% from the field with 10 makes from 3-point range on 26 attempts.
It was the Ohio State defense that struggled to contain Niagara.
The Purple Eagles shot 42.9 % from the field, making 11-of-21 attempts from 3.
News and notes
After missing four of his eight attempts at the free-throw line against Akron in the season opener, Liddell joked that NBA legend and notoriously bad free-throw shooter Shaquille O’Neal was his favorite big man.
The struggles from the charity stripe continued for Ohio State as a whole, missing 10 attempts from the line on 30 attempts.
Ohio State was only able to record three more rebounds than Niagara, with Key and Young leading the way with seven.
Freshman guard Malaki Branham made his first career start for the Buckeyes, replacing freshman guard Meechie Johnson Jr. in the starting five. Branham finished with seven points, three rebounds and an assist in 19 minutes of play.
Ohio State redshirt senior guard Cedric Russell was unavailable and not with the team against Niagara due to a death in his family.
Ohio State will take on Bowling Green at home Monday at 6:30 p.m. as a part of the Fort Myers Tip Off tournament.
