Aaron Bradshaw and John Mobley Jr. scored 16 points apiece as No. 21 Ohio State cruised to an 81-47 victory against Youngstown State on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio.
Bruce Thornton had 12 points, Meechie Johnson added 11 and Sean Stewart supplied 10 for the Buckeyes (2-0), who led by 15 at the break and never looked back.
Ohio State was playing as a ranked team for the first time since landing in the top 25 the week of Jan. 2, 2023.
Cris Carroll had 10 points and Ty Harper and Gabe Dynes each scored nine points for the Penguins (1-1), who were 3-for-22 on 3-pointers (13.6 percent).
Bradshaw and Stewart had only two points apiece in a season-opening victory against then-No. 19 Texas last Monday, but they combined for 15 in the first half against the Penguins.
Mobley, who went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc vs. the Longhorns, knocked down his first three triples of the night against Youngstown State to run his streak of made treys to seven before recording his first miss from deep.
It was a wonder why the Penguins only trailed 37-22 at intermission after their epic cold spells. They took a 2-0 lead 16 seconds into the game but went the next 6:14 without scoring while the Buckeyes reeled off 12 straight points.
The Ohio State lead reached 13 points, 27-14, before Youngstown State got as close as nine, but it then went the final 6:34 of the first half without a made field goal. However, the Penguins did sink five free throws during that stretch.
Ohio State opened the second half on an 8-2 run to build a 45-24 cushion, then led by at least 20 the rest of the way.
Because a power outage on the Youngstown State campus postponed the Penguins’ season opener against Westminster last Monday, the team will begin the season with six straight games away from home for the first time in program history.
–Field Level Media
