It was a pretty good showing for the Ohio State basketball team against No. 15 ranked Texas A&M on Friday night, with the Buckeyes being within one or two possessions all game, but OSU couldn’t quite make enough plays down the stretch and left Value City Arena with a 73-66 loss.
If there’s one area of the game Ohio State will be lamenting, it’ll be the inability to to keep the Aggies off the offensive boards and to hang with their rebounding in general. Texas A&M pulled down a whopping 16 offensive rebounds that led to extra possessions.
It was a nip and tuck game from the first half throughout. Ohio State held a razor thin lead most of the first twenty minutes but fell behind late to head into the locker room down by one point, 34-33.
The next 20 minutes would be much of the same with both teams employing a physical brand in and around the paint and on defense. Texas A&M was able to get a few more looks at the basket and execute just a wee bit more to stave off an upset bid by the Scarlet and Gray by pulling slightly ahead and holding on around the three-minute mark left in the game.
Bruce Thorton led the Buckeyes with 24 points on 8-of-19 shooting with six of those points coming from the free throw line. Jamison Battle was the only other OSU player in double figures with 10 points. Roddy Gayle, Jr. chipped in nine points.
Final from Columbus
OSU: 66
Texas A&M: 73The Buckeyes are back in action Wednesday Nov. 15 taking on Merrimack at 7 PM ET in the Schott 🏀 pic.twitter.com/N0F5bpmZQ7
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) November 11, 2023
The good news is that turnovers weren’t too much of a problem for the Buckeyes like the were last year against aggressive defensive ball clubs. Ohio State turned the ball over just eight times, but only forced six.
With the loss, OSU drops to 1-1 on the season and will get ready to take on Merrimack next Wednesday at home.
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