Things have not gone as planned for Ohio State in the first half of its opening game of the NCAA Tournament vs. Oral Roberts. The Buckeyes began to impose their will a little after the first five minutes, but then began to allow the Golden Eagles to claw back into the game by not finding shooters and misfiring on shots from the perimeter on the offensive end.
It’s possible the run in the Big Ten Tournament took some life out of Ohio State, but there shouldn’t need to be any more motivation to get things cranked up in a setting every kid dreams of playing in.
Duane Washington came out of the gate hot but garnered more attention as the half wore on. He went into the locker room with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting (3-of-6 from 3-point range) to lead Ohio State. E.J. Liddell has not been utilized nearly enough with the big advantage in the paint, scoring just six points on 3-of-6 from the field. He needs many more opportunities than that coming into the second half.
For Oral Roberts, the country’s leading scorer, Max Abmas, leads all scorers with 18 points in the first half. He’s nailed 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and has been a real problem to track down because of his quickness and range.
Time to kick it into another gear.#Team122 #GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/UvNznLCzgu
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) March 19, 2021
Even though the first twenty of minutes has been a frustrating one if you are an Ohio State fan, there’s still a whole half of basketball to go. If the Buckeyes can refocus their intention to get the ball into the paint and find the open shooters better out on the perimeter, there should be no problem reeling this one back in.
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