Rutgers Basketball Falls to Ohio State 80-73 Despite 15 Point First Half Lead

Rutgers men’s basketball started the new year with a loss, as they fell to Ohio State 80-73. Despite the Scarlet Knights having a 15-point lead in the first half, they could not match the physicality and paint presence of their opponent, as the Buckeyes would fight their way back for the win.

Ohio State would take the opening tip-off and get a three-point play because of it. Both teams would trade buckets over the next few minutes, with the game being tied at 10 apiece with 15 minutes left to go in the first half. Rutgers would start to pull away over the next five minutes, largely thanks to Tariq Francis getting the hot hand and several poorly timed penalties for the Buckeyes. The Knights would have a 24-18 lead after ten minutes passed in the game.

Rutgers would continue to pour it on, forcing Ohio State to take a timeout with 6:29 left to play in the first half. The Knights pushed their lead to 8 by this point and had several Buckeyes in foul trouble. Rutgers would go on a 13-2 run in just over four minutes, and would have a 39-24 lead late in the first half. However, Ohio State would fight its way back into the game by going on a 13-2 run, as the Knights would go into the half up 41-37.

Rutgers would score coming out of the half, as Francis would break open the scoring for the Knights by netting a two-pointer. However, Ohio State would take the lead off a John Mobley Jr. three-pointer with 17 and a half minutes left to play in the game. The game would turn from there, as Rutgers’ shooting went cold, largely due to their offense not being able to solve Ohio State’s zone defense. The Knights would trail by as much as nine points before they would start to go on a run themselves, largely thanks to Lino Mark providing some energy off the bench. Ohio State would hold a one-point lead with 10 minutes left in the game.

Rutgers would retake the lead with nine minutes left to play off of a Kaden Powers dunk. The lead would go back and forth several times until the Buckeyes scored a few buckets in succession to pull away from Rutgers for good.

The Knights’ biggest struggles in this game were their defense, their three-point shooting, and overall team discipline. Ohio State hit 52 percent from the field and 44 percent from three. They struggled to contain the Buckeyes in the paint, relenting 38 points from underneath the basket. Rutgers itself only managed to hit 6 shots out of 22 three-point attempts, good for 27 percent. On top of that, the Buckeyes would get 23 shots from the line, hitting 19 of them.

They struggled to contain Buckeye guard Bruce Thornton in particular, as he would register 20 points and a double-double.

Rutgers actually performed well in most other areas of the game. They shot over 40 percent from the floor, generated four more turnovers than they had themselves, and shot 76 percent from the free-throw line. Rutgers also had 5 more offensive rebounds than the Buckeyes. These are a few positives that they can build on heading into the rest of the season.

The Knights will be back in action on Monday, January 5th, at home against Oregon. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 7 pm. Live coverage will be available on Peacock.