Buckeyes torch the nets, blast Washington at home, 93-69

Ohio State took care of business at home Wednesday night, setting up a huge game against Michigan Sunday.

Still feeling the sting of losing a winnable game in Nebraska over the weekend and with the Michigan Wolverines looming, the Ohio State men’s basketball team (15-10, 7-7) welcomed the 17th-place Washington Huskies (12-12, 3-10) to the Schott Wednesday night.

A cold, rainy February evening paired with an abnormally late 8:30 p.m. tipoff did not produce the most robust or enthusiastic crowd on Wednesday night, but this was a game Ohio State could not afford to lose. The Huskies entered the game sitting at No. 92 in the NET, making them the only Quad-3 game left on Ohio State’s schedule. In other words, it was the only game on the schedule that could really damage Ohio State’s tournament chances if they lost.

Fortunately, the outcome of this game was never really in question, as the Buckeyes went ahead by 15 at halftime and never looked back, knocking off the 17th-place Huskies at home, 93-69. John Mobley Jr. and Micah Parrish each scored 21 points for Ohio State, which shot 58.2% as a unit and averaged a blistering 1.38 points per possession.

Ohio State took an early lead over the Huskies thanks to a whopping five turnovers committed by the visitors in the first five minutes. The Buckeyes turned those turnovers into six points and led 11-8 at the first media timeout with 14:35 remaining.

Sophomore forward Devin Royal’s status was up in the air heading into this game after Nebraska’s Andrew Morgan fell on his leg last game, but he started on Wednesday and scored four of Ohio State’s first 11 points.

Osobor threw down a dunk with 11:15 remaining in the first half to cut Ohio State’s lead to 21-15, but the Buckeyes responded with an 8-2 run, capped off by John Mobley Jr.’s third three-pointer of the game, to make it 29-17 with just over nine minutes left in the half. Danny Sprinkle called timeout to stop the momentum, as Mobley ran to the bench screaming and gave Jake Diebler a bear hug before joining the huddle.

Washington cut the Ohio State lead to 39-31 with just over four minutes remaining until halftime on a pair of Wilhlem Breidenbach free throws. The Buckeyes responded with a 10-0 run, the first seven of which all came from Micah Parrish. The first basket was a made three-pointer while being fouled by Tyler Harris. Parrish hit the free throw to complete the four-point play to make it 43-31.

Ohio State stretched the lead out to 18 right after, and went into the locker room up 51-36 at halftime. The Buckeyes shot the cover off the ball, hitting 66.7% of their shots and were only held back by their own turnovers, of which there were nine. Parrish and Mobley combined for 26 first-half points and were a combined 6-for-10 from three-point land. Zoom Diallo had 11 points in the first half for Washington.

Breidenbach knocked down a pair of triples on back-to-back Washington possessions to prevent this game from completely getting away from the Huskies, but by the first media timeout of the second half Ohio State had extended their lead to 18, 62-44. Thornton chipped in five and Royal scored four in the first 4:32 of the second stanza.

The Buckeyes kept on scoring in the second half, attacking the rack repeatedly and earning a ton of free throws. Washington committed their seventh foul of the half not even six minutes into the back stanza, so Ohio State got very familiar with the charity stripe. By the under-eight media timeout with 6:31 remaining, the Buckeyes had extended their lead to a game-high 28 points, 84-56. The only thing left in question was if they would get that elusive 16th assist that would earn the entire arena free Chick-Fil-a.

The Buckeyes got 15 assists by the seven-minute mark, but were unable to ever get that elusive 16th assist for free Chick-Fil-a. They did, however, win the basketball game by 24 points, 93-69. That brings the Buckeyes back to an even 7-7 in the Big Ten and sets up a massive showdown with the first-place Michigan Wolverines on Sunday afternoon.

If you weren’t around on Wednesday night to see Ohio State take care of business against a team that they very much needed to take care of business against, here are a few of the biggest, funniest, and most crucial moments of the game:

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Royal’s ankle looks good, scores a few early

Devin Royal was listed as “questionable” heading into Wednesday night’s game after a Nebraska player fell on his leg on Sunday, but he was able to go through warm ups without issue and without any type of brace on his leg.

After Sean Stewart tied the game 2-2 with a layup, Royal scored each of Ohio State’s next two baskets, making it 6-2. On the second bucket, Royal drove directly into the chest of Great Osobor, pushing him back and then going up to drop in the reverse layup on the other side of the iron.

Royal finished the game with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting in 26 minutes. He also had four rebounds, but more importantly he did not look bothered by the leg injury he suffered over the weekend.

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Mahaffey getting it done on both ends

Evan Mahaffey played at least 20 minutes in each of Ohio State’s last two games, and he continued to show why he’s earned those minutes in the first half of Wednesday’s game.

With Ohio State up 19-13 and 11:42 remaining in the first half, the 6-foot-6, 200-pound junior was matched up with Great Osobor, who is 6-foot-8 and 50 pounds heavier. Washington’s leading scorer tried to back Mahaffey down on the left block facing Ohio State’s bench, but Mahaffey didn’t budge an inch. After several dribbles, Osobor ended up dribbling the ball off his foot, and the it rolled out of bounds for a turnover.

On the ensuing Ohio State possession, Thornton threw a lob up to Mahaffey, who was not able to dunk it but was able to at least catch the ball and then throw up a reverse layup through contact from Jase Butler. Mahaffey missed the free throw that followed the make, but his basket put Ohio State up 21-13 with 11:32 remaining in the first half.

Mahaffey played 13 minutes on Wednesday, scoring four points on 2-of-2 shooting. He had two blocks, steals, and assists apiece, but was 0-for-3 at the free throw line, bringing his season-long free throw percentage down to a horrendous 37.5%.

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Bradshaw’s best half of basketball since….?

It’s no secret that Aaron Bradshaw’s season hasn’t gone as expected thus far. The former five-star recruit was expected to contribute in a big way for Ohio State this year, but entering Wednesday night’s game he was averaging just 6.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, while shooting 4-of-25 from beyond the arc.

Bradshaw had a big first half against the Huskies, although he did it while also picking up two fouls in nine minutes of game time. He knocked down two three-pointers in the first half and blocked a shot, plus sealed off Osobor multiple times below the basket to create space for Parrish and Mahaffey to drive at the basket for buckets. All told, the sophomore had 8 points on 3-for-3 shooting in the first half.

He scored four more in the second half, finishing with 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting overall in 17 minutes. He also had three rebounds, one block, and one steal.

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Breidenbach gives it back to the Nuthouse

While the game looked pretty much out of hand by halftime, the Ohio State student section wasn’t done harassing Washington’s 6-foot-10 senior forward. They were shouting at him for his goggles, beard, and just general awkward demeanor on the floor, especially when the big man was at the free throw line.

But in the second half Wilhelm silenced them a little bit, knocking down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to keep Washington from getting ran off the floor. It kept the score within 20 points, but more importantly it was his first time in the calendar year 2025 that he’d knocked down multiple three-pointers in a game.

Breidenbach, who transferred from Nebraska two years ago and now finds himself back in the Big Ten, finished with nine points on 2-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes. He was 3-for-4 at the free throw line.

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Washington called four three fouls in three seconds, Buckeyes in bonus

On a night when the game was already tipping off at a time later than normal, Danny Sprinkle’s Huskies decided to extend the game some more by putting Ohio State in the bonus with over 14 minutes remaining in the game.

With 14:41 left on the clock, Franck Kepnang was called for a foul, and then Breidenbach was called for a foul as Ohio State tried to inbound the basketball — so zero seconds came off the clock between the two fouls.

After the ball was passed in to Parrish, he was fouled three seconds later by Tyler Harris, which was Washington’s seventh foul and thus put Parrish at the charity stripe. He knocked down both, putting Ohio State up 64-45.

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Buckeyes break 90 in a B1G game

With the game way out of hand and students begging for free chicken more than a win, Mobley went on his own little 7-0 in the closing minutes. His long two-point shot from in front of the Ohio State bench with 2:54 remaining made it 91-65, which also marked the first time this season the Buckeyes have topped 90 points in a Big Ten game.

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What’s next?

The Buckeyes get three days off before welcoming longtime Michigan man Roddy Gayle and the Wolverines to the Schottenstein Center on Sunday afternoon. With their win over Purdue on Tuesday night, paired with Michigan State’s loss to Indiana, the Wolverines are now sitting alone in first-place in the Big Ten.

Michigan is currently riding a five-game winning streak and sit at No. 20 in the AP Poll. They’re No. 17 in the NET and No. 19 in KenPom.

Ohio State’s game against the skunk badgers is set to tip off at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.