The Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball team (6-4, 1-1) traveled to Atlanta and fell 91-53 to the No. 2 Auburn Tigers (9-1, 0-0) on Saturday afternoon after getting down early again and failing to recover.
This was the leadoff game in the Holiday Hoops-giving, and the other games in the event will be Florida against Arizona State and Grand Canyon against Georgia. The Gators and Sun Devils play at 3:30 p.m., and the Grand Canyon Antelopes and Georgia Bulldogs wrap up the college action at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Not many teams, if any, have played a tougher schedule than Auburn. The Tigers have played No. 4 Houston, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 9 Duke, and Memphis, so they are no stranger to big games. According to KenPom, Auburn was the No. 1 team in the country, No. 1 in offensive efficiency, and No. 22 in defensive efficiency coming into the contest. Ohio State was ranked No. 28 overall, No. 21 in offensive efficiency, and No. 37 in defensive efficiency.
The Buckeyes got off to another slow start in this one, as Auburn made three of its first four baskets. Auburn star Johni Broome got off to a fast start as well, recording 11 points and six rebounds in the first seven minutes of the game as Auburn jumped out to a 15-5 start and then a 22-8 lead.
Auburn stayed hot, making 10 of its first 15 shots from the floor and five of its first seven three-pointers. The Tigers went on a seven-minute scoreless streak, but the Buckeyes could never get enough offense strung together to go on a run and successfully cut into the lead.
Auburn ended the first half on a 13-3 run and pushed the lead all the way to 49-21. The Tigers finished the first half 19-for-39 from the field, 9-for-16 from three-point range, and only 2-for-3 from the free throw line. Ohio State was an abysmal 6-for-24 from the field, 1-for-5 from three-point range, and 8-for-14 from the free-throw line.
Broome was unstoppable, recording 17 points and 14 rebounds in the opening half. He has now recorded a double-double in 26-straight games. Denver Jones added 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting all from three-point range.
The Buckeyes’ offense was unable to get going in the first half, with Devin Royal and Sean Stewart leading the team with six points. Royal was 1-for-4 from the field, while Stewart was 2-for-7. Ohio State turned the ball over five times, leading to eight points at the other end.
Auburn pushed its lead to 53-26 in the first three minutes of the second half, with Broome recording a quick three rebounds to get his total to 17. Auburn then recorded two more baskets to push its lead to 30.
With 25 minutes remaining in the game, the Tigers led 59-30 and had recorded 15 points to Ohio State’s two second-chance points. John Mobley Jr. then found Devin Royal for an alley-oop to cut the deficit to 27. Auburn answered with five-straight points to double up the Buckeyes and take a 64-32 lead.
Ohio State never got into a rhythm on offense and remained down by 30 to 35 point
s throughout the second half. Ohio State’s leading scorer, Bruce Thornton, who was averaging 16.2 points per game coming into the game, only recorded his first points with 4:50 left in the game.
Auburn went on to win the game 91-53.
Johni Broome finished as the MVP, recording 21 points, 20 rebounds, and six assists. This was Broome’s first 20-20 game of the season, coming close once before when he recorded 23 points and 19 rebounds against North Carolina. Denver Jones and Jakhi Howard recorded 14 and 11 points, respectively. Nine Auburn players recorded five or more points.
For Ohio State, Devin Royal finished with 14 points and five rebounds, while Micah Parrish recorded 10 points as the sole Buckeyes to get into double figures.
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