The first half in Evanston looked a lot like some of the other games we’ve seen recently from Ohio State early on. But then, the Buckeyes came out of a timeout with more energy on defense and an attacking style on offense to take a little control in the game. After going up by as many as ten midway through the first half, Ohio State went into the locker room up 38-35.
There was a lid on the basket early on, as Ohio State fell down early 9-2. The offense struggled finding a way to score against a Northwestern defense that sagged all five guys close to the lane to limit the effectiveness of Kaleb Wesson.
But then, the defense clamped down and led to some runouts, some outside shots hit the bottom of the net, and the offense began to find a little more rhythm. Not everything is rosy though. Northwestern finished the half on a run that gave it some momentum headed to the break.
Forward Andre Wesson led Ohio State with eleven points. He also nabbed four rebounds and went 1 of 3 from beyond the arc. He’s brother Kaleb has been held to just four points. The Buckeyes also got contributions from their bench with Justin Ahrens pouring in six points, and both Duane Washington and D.J. Carton adding five each.
It’s a better showing on the road by Ohio State, but this one is far from over. Things went south last week against Minnesota in the second half, so there needs to be more of what we saw in the first twenty as the teams head out for the last twenty minutes.
