After playing three teams that didn’t provide much competition, the new faces of the Ohio State basketball team ran into much stiffer competition in Maui and found out it has plenty to work on, going down to No. 17 San Diego State 88-77.
Both teams started out cold shooting the ball, but OSU got the better result in effort and defense, scoring the first five points of the game. That wouldn’t last though and a deep Aztec team started to find its offense in waves once Zed Key picked up his second foul of the half and had to sit. San Diego State took control of the game just after that and went into the locker room up 37-26.
Ohio State tried to make a run in the second half behind the hot shooting of guard Sean McNeil, but after the Buckeyes cut the lead to four points, San Diego State went on a quick run to go up by twelve points again and never really looked back.
OSU did battle back and keep the game respectable, but it never really felt like San Diego State was in danger of losing the game. After playing great defense through the first three games and holding opponents’ shooting percentage down, things didn’t fare so well in this one. The Aztecs shot over 50 percent from the field and made it tough for the Buckeyes to sustain a run that cut all the way into the lead.
McNeil led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. Brice Sensabaugh and Bruce Thorton also finished in double figures with 17 and 13 points a piece.
On to the next one.
OSU: 7️⃣7️⃣
SDSU: 8️⃣8️⃣#Team124 pic.twitter.com/4ybRsH7RdB— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) November 22, 2022
With the loss, Ohio State drops to 3-1 and will face the loser of Arizona and Cincinnati Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. ET.
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