COLUMBUS, Ohio – Behind red-hot shooting, Ohio State was able to dismantle the No. 10 team in the country 76-51.
The Buckeyes would finish the game shooting 60 percent from the field and 9-of-16 from beyond the arc. The Buckeyes were able to get five players into double figures, while Kyle Young and E.J. Liddell just missed the cut with eight points apiece.
"I think our team is very deep and very skilled throughout our whole roster," D.J. Carton said on their ability to hold off Villanova.
The Buckeyes would start the game off hitting three-consecutive threes to force an early timeout from Jay Wright.
Villanova got sucker punched in the mouth early with the Buckeyes ballooning the game to an early 19-3 lead, and Ohio State would continue to ride its lights-out shooting to keep Villanova out of striking distance.
"Honestly in those situations, and like I said it's happened maybe two or three times in my career, your players are so laser focused that you're trying to not over coach at that point and get in their way," Chris Holtmann said on what he did when his team came out playing so well.
Duane Washington Jr. was the star early, hitting his first four shots to tally an early 11 points. The sophomore would finish the game with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with five rebounds.
"You have to feed the hot hand and get him the ball in his spots and let him make plays and things like that," C.J. Walker said. "So he kind of carried us through the first four minutes of that game, and he kind of set the tone from there."
Washington would knock down four of Ohio State’s nine three pointers. This marked the second-straight game in which the Buckeyes knocked down nine three pointers, but they were able to hit the mark in seven fewer shots against Villanova.
In the first half, it was the backcourt play off Washington and Walker that dominated the game. While Washington poured all 11 of his first half points in the first few minutes of the game, it would not take Walker much longer to hit the double-digit threshold.
With the scorers combining for 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, the Buckeyes were able to enjoy an 18-point half time lead.
After shooting an impressive 53.6 percent from the field in the first half, Ohio State was able to top this with a 68.2-percent performance in the following half.
Beyond scoring, Walker was able to tally a game-high seven assists and only one turnover.
"It started in practice, just trying to make the right plays, not rushing anything and trying to get my teammates the ball in the right time and the right spacing for them to get the right shots and get it into their spots," Walker said on his ability to facilitate efficiently.
Continuing the theme of distributing the ball from the backcourt, Carton would add another five assists off the bench to Ohio State’s total of 18 assists. Carton was also able to add five rebounds to go along with his 11 points.
Carton was able to dazzle on multiple occasions, including a backdoor cut that led to a ferocious dunk for the freshman.
"It was fun being able to celebrate with my teammates and being able to play the game that I love," Carton said on his emotion after his dunk.
On the inside, Kaleb Wesson was able to record a double-double, his second of the season. His true value came from his work on the defensive end, where he recorded four blocks.
"Kaleb Wesson is playing as good as I've ever seen him play," Holtmann said. "I've never seen Kaleb Wesson play better, and that's a credit to him on both ends."
Outside of a 9-0 run from Villanova to end the first half, Ohio State was able to dominate the game. While the win may be eye-opening for many around the country, Ohio State will look to continue to play with the edge and aggressiveness that it displayed against Villanova.
"We just kind of got a chip on our shoulder right now," Walker said. "We're focused, and we're just trying to get better each and every day in practice, in games, and come together as one through 15 on our roster. And we just want to keep getting better and keep proving we can play at a high level."
