BAYAMON, Puerto Rico – Unlike in Ohio State’s first exhibition game, the Buckeyes men’s basketball team had to sweat a bit against Los Boris 2.
On Aug. 2, the OSU jumped out to a 17-3 lead against Los Boris 1 and controlled the game from tip to finish in a 115-75 victory at Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez. Ohio State buried 21 3-pointers, shared the ball freely and generally did what it wanted to do against an older but outmatched team of professional players with ties to the area.
The second and final game of the summer exhibition trip was a different story. Although the Buckeyes again never trailed, they had to withstand some colder shooting, a more physical challenge and a true bit of adversity.
In the end, the result was the same: a lopsided Ohio State victory. Six Buckeyes finished in double figures as they took control during the second half and cruised to a 111-73 win that closes the door on their exhibition trip.
Here were five standout plays from the Ohio State win:
LJ Smith’s half-court 3-pointer
OSU never led by more than seven points in the game’s first 20 minutes, but with the third quarter was winding down, the Buckeyes were firmly in control thanks to a 16-0 run. Coach Jake Diebler was displeased with a defensive lapse that allowed Los Boris 2’s Core McKeithan an open floater in the paint, and he was letting freshman center Vuk Lazarevic know about it when freshman guard LJ Smith launched a shot from a few steps before reaching midcourt.
It found the bottom of the net, banking off the glass and setting the score at 82-57 while setting off a celebration at the Ohio State bench area. Smith finished with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting which included a 2-for-8 effort from 3-point range.
Alex Smith’s extra effort leads to Anthony Thompson slam
Ohio State had jumped out to an 8-0 lead only to allow an 8-0 run to tie the game before a John Mobley Jr. 3-pointer reclaimed the lead for the Buckeyes.
After a strong defensive effort from Jimmie Williams forced Antonio Gordon into a badly missed jumper, Mobley came up a little short on a step back 3-pointer from the left wing. Freshman Alex Smith found a way to tip out the offensive rebound and keep the possession alive.
Fellow freshman Anthony Thompson then finished it with a slam dunk to make it 13-8.
Amare Bynum dishes for dunk, gets one of his own
This is technically a two-parter. With Los Boris 2 hanging around at 31-28 with less than five minutes to play in the second quarter, Bynum fed the ball to Mobley on the right wing and quickly cut toward the right block. Mobley found him with a pass and Bynum threw down a powerful dunk that pushed the lead back to five points and drew another celebration from the Ohio State bench.
Los Boris 2 didn’t go away, though, and after LJ Smith blocked a shot on the next possession Ohio State’s Josh Ojianwuna was stripped, leading to a wide-open dunk from Chinemelu Elonu to cut it back to a three-point game.
This time, Bynum was on the giving end of a dunk, feeding Ojianwuna for his first points of the trip. Bynum tied Justin Pippen for the team lead with five assists in the game.
John Mobley’s steal punctuates testy exchange
Jared Ruiz did not have a number on the back of his jersey, but he made sure Ohio State knew who he was. He finished with a team-high 17 points, was 4 for 6 from 3-point range and had a heated moment with Mobley after the Ohio State junior hit a 3-pointer over him during the second quarter.
As both teams went to their benches during a media timeout, Mobley and Ruiz exchanged a few words, as did a few other Los Boris 2 players. Out of the timeout, the Puerto Rican team immediately got the ball to Ruiz on the left baseline, matching him up one-on-one with Mobley in the midrange. With LJ Smith digging down to provide some defensive support, Mobley held his ground, got his arm around Ruiz and knocked the ball loose for a turnover.
Bynum punctuated the exchange with his most powerful dunk of the night, making it 42-34 and leading to a timeout.
Buckeyes hit the floor for late loose ball
It was the kind of play that doesn’t show up in a box score but all coaches love. With Ohio State riding its 29-9 run to close the third quarter, the Buckeyes opened the fourth with a Mobley 3-pointer courtesy of an Andrija Jelavic offensive rebound and subsequent post kick-out from Alex Smith to make it 85-57.
The game was already well decided, but on the next possession Williams was able to poke the ball loose deep in Los Boris 2’s backcourt, where he was one of three Ohio State players who immediately hit the court to secure possession. Jelavic came up with the ball and drew a foul, giving Ohio State possession that ended with two Williams free throws. It also might have been the hardest that Diebler yelled in support of his guys for the entire game.
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: 5 top plays from Ohio State’s second exhibition win in Puerto Rico
Reporting by Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
