The Ohio State basketball team needed to rebound from a heartbreaking loss on the road vs. Penn State the last time out, and it got it with a hard-fought 67-60 win over the UCLA Bruins in the annual CBS Sports Classic on Saturday.
The game was nip and tuck pretty much all the way with the lead never getting over five points until the last two minutes of the contest when the Buckeyes went up by six with on a Felix Okpara free throw.
It wasn’t a pretty game, with a slower tempo and neither team shooting the ball particularly well. The score was just 23-22 in favor of the Bruins at halftime, but OSU picked up the pace just a bit in the second half.
Ohio State struggle from the 3-point line, shooting just 1-of-15 from deep, the make coming with under one minute left by Jamison Battle with the shot clock running down and OSU up by just three points. But OSU found a way.
Things remained tight throughout the second half, but the Buckeyes were able to make enough plays and hit their free throws to get a huge, neutral court win.
Roddy Gayle Jr. led Ohio State with 19 points on 6-of-11 attempts. He had a great day at the free throw line, making 7-of-8 and making big ones at the end. Three other OSU players scored in double figures for a balanced effort. Battle tallied 14, Bruce Thornton poured in 13, and big man, Felix Okpara, notched 10 points.
With the win, OSU runs its record to 9-0 overall and remains 1-1 in the Big Ten. It’s next contest
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.