From a decision-making standpoint, this hadn’t been the strongest game of the season for John Mobley Jr.
Credited with two turnovers, the Ohio State sophomore guard would finish with a season-low two assists while missing all five of his shot attempts from inside the 3-point line. His 9 points proved to be a season-low, but down one with the ball and 23.8 seconds to play Buckeyes coach Jake Diebler drew up a play for the go-ahead bucket.
He wanted the ball in Mobley’s hands. And when things got a little discombobulated, it was the sophomore who made the right read, got the ball to Christoph Tilly and celebrated when his driving, left-handed layup with 13 seconds left gave Ohio State (4-0) a 64-63 win against Notre Dame (3-1) in front of 12,357 fans at Value City Arena.
It was the biggest play of the game.
“He’s not just a scorer,” Diebler said. “He can read the game. He made a great read. This isn’t the first time he’s done that.”
When the Buckeyes inbounded the ball, Mobley probed the right side of the mid-range and was able to pick his head up and see Tilly with an advantage back upcourt and to his left. Mobley slotted the pass to the big guy who, after one dribble, lofted a left-handed layup over Notre Dame’s Carson Towt and Garrett Sundra. It banked off the glass and through for the ninth and final lead change of the game.
Asked if that was how the play was drawn up, Tilly offered a succinct “no” before explaining how he saw the play progress.
“It was for Juni, but he made the right read,” Tilly, who had 18 points on only eight shots, said. “Then I just drove the ball and made a layup.”
It might have been more than that. After Ohio State narrowly missed out on the NCAA Tournament last season thanks in part to a 4-5 record in one-possession games, the Buckeyes clawed out their first such victory this season in what was their first true test of the year. Ohio State had taken down three mid-major foes entering the Notre Dame game and now improves to 4-0 for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
Diebler said Mobley was a little delayed coming off the initial screen, which threw off the timing of the play a bit, but that the hope was his offensive gravity would help create a potential driving lane for senior guard Bruce Thornton. But when the Fighting Irish didn’t leave Mobley or Thornton, it created an advantage for the 7-foot, 240-pound center who drew a game-high 10 fouls.
“That one, Juni put pressure on (his defender),” Diebler said. “He started to see a crowd, made a great read and Tilly had an advantage and he read it perfect.”
The game wasn’t over, though. Notre Dame, with timeouts available, still would get the final look. And rather than allow Ohio State to set up its defense, Fighting Irish coach Micah Shrewsberry opted to let preseason first-team all-ACC guard Markus Burton make something happen.
The game ended when Burton had to fire a 3-pointer over Tilly’s outstretched arm, finishing a 3-for-14 afternoon for Notre Dame’s leading scorer.
“They had their offensive group in,” Shrewsberry said. “You’re probably going to get a better shot versus an un-set defense. If we call a timeout they get set and now they can be ready for whatever. We got a switch. It was a good shot. Good look. Might have been a better look than if we called a timeout and tried to run something.”
Instead, Ohio State was able to celebrate a one-point win at home against a high-major team. The Buckeyes now play two more mid-major games before going to Pitt on Nov. 28 in a rematch of a game the Panthers won at Value City Arena last year by one point in overtime, 91-90.
“Big time players make big-time plays,” Thornton said. “Coach can scheme something up but us guys on the court, our teammates have to make those things happen. I’ve got the most ultimate trust for anybody to make that last shot that Tilly made.”
Here are three more takeaways from Ohio State’s win against Notre Dame.
It turns out that Ohio State can win a game like this
Statistically, this was the kind of game the Buckeyes would almost certainly not have won last season. Ohio State finished with an adjusted offensive efficiency of 95.9 points per 100 possessions according to KenPom.com. Not only was that its lowest mark of the season, as might be expected when taking a step up in competition, but it would have been the eighth-worst offensive showing of the 2024-25 season.
That year, Ohio State lost all nine games it played with an adjusted offensive efficiency rating lower than 101 points per 100 possessions. When Ohio State was below 110 per 100 possessions, it was 1-13 during a season when the Buckeyes finished 17-15.
How did Ohio State make that lead stand up on an afternoon where the offense sputtered for stretches and flat-out misfired in others? Its adjusted defensive efficiency rating of 94.4 points per game would have been its fifth-best mark last season. This year, it’s already Ohio State’s third-highest through four games.
At halftime, Notre Dame led 34-31 while shooting 58.3% from the field. In the second half, the Buckeyes held the Fighting Irish to 37.0% from the floor.
The reasons for that depend on who is answering the question. Diebler pointed to his team playing too close to their men on the perimeter, giving Notre Dame advantages on drives that the Irish continually exploited. After detailing some changes at halftime, Diebler said this team’s collective basketball IQ allowed the Buckeyes to implement those changes effectively and cause issues for Notre Dame’s offense in the second half.
However, Shrewsberry pointed out that Notre Dame finished 5 for 14 on layups and missed a few wide-open ones, notably a Sir Mohammad miss at the rim on the first possession of the second half.
“Sir Mohammad missed a wide-open layup to start the second half that didn’t have anything to do with their defense,” he said. “I think it maybe was concentration to make some of those. They play really hard defense. Bruce Thornton’s a really good defender and he’s physical and makes it tough. Gabe Cupps does the same, he makes it tough on you.
“I felt like (some guys) rushed a little bit.”
Devin Royal was quietly impactful in his return
If this game had been played on the date that the Buckeyes hosted Appalachian State, it’s fair to wonder if Ohio State would have had junior wing Devin Royal in the lineup. Instead, Royal sat out the 75-53 win against the Mountaineers with a hip injury and returned to the starting lineup against the Irish.
He finished with 7 points and a team-high six rebounds in 32:26.
“I don’t know if he’s feeling good right now but he was feeling good going into the game,” Diebler said. “He’s done a great job to put himself in position. I asked him multiple times throughout the game if he needed one. I trust him. He plays with a physicality. We’re more physical when he’s on the floor. I love that about him.
“I’m sure he’s sore. I’m sure probably right now he’s already seeing our trainer. He’ll be in recovery mode the rest of the day.”
Free throws are key for this team
At halftime, Tilly had scored 4 points. He was 1 for 4 from the field, 2 for 2 from the free-throw line and empty on two 3-point attempts. In 14:22, he had drawn just one foul and committed two.
In the second half, he scored 14 points thanks to an 8-for-11 effort from the free-throw line while drawing nine fouls. Ohio State finished 19 for 23 from the line compared to a 12-for-20 game from Notre Dame.
“I was not doing that in the first half enough,” Tilly said of driving to the basket with physicality. “I had to adjust that at halftime. I was telling myself to be physical and finish through contact and not try to get fouled, just focus on my finishes. Then the fouls, they were just coming. I felt like I was in a good spot and every time I caught a ball I was trying to read and progress because I knew if I did my thing something good was going to happen.”
Ohio State drew 21 fouls and committed 16. Notre Dame leading scorer Markus Burton, who had 14 points, was only 3 for 14 from the floor but was 8 for 9 from the line, drawing five fouls.
“It’s a choice of whether it’s called or not,” Shrewsberry said. “We had three really good officials. Thought they were great, but (Tilly) caught it and drove it and he got fouls called. We caught it and drove it, sometimes we did and sometimes we didn’t. That’s the game. That’s it in a nutshell right there.
“This game was free throws and layups.”
Ohio State was officially 6 for 8 on layups. The Buckeyes are No. 34 nationally in percentage of points coming from the free-throw line at 27.1%. They are also No. 9 in free-throw rate.
Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: In beating Notre Dame, Ohio State wins a game it would have lost last year: Takeaways
Reporting by Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
