Camels smoked in Columbus: Buckeyes roll, 104-60 behind Mobley’s big night

Buckeyes were lights out from distance against Campbell.

The Ohio State men’s basketball team (4-1) showed up to the arena Friday afternoon with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the team before its game against the Campbell Fighting Camels (3-3). Sophomore forwards Sean Stewart and Aaron Bradshaw — two of the Buckeyes’ starters — were ruled out in the Big Ten availability report.

Stewart fell and hit his head hard on the ground during Ohio State’s 80-30 win over Evansville on Tuesday night, and the assumption is that Stewart suffered a concussion. Bradshaw, however, was a surprise scratch. At roughly 4 p.m. ET Ohio State put out a statement regarding Bradshaw that read:

“Aaron Bradshaw is not currently participating in team activities. The university is following its established process. Due to federal privacy laws, we cannot share further information at this time.”

With both starting forwards out, Diebler went with a starting lineup of Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson, Micah Parrish, Evan Mahaffey, and Devin Royal. It was the first start of the season for both Mahaffey and Royal.

Now in his 12th season as head coach of the Camels, Kevin McGeehan went with the same starting five he used last weekend to beat the Navy Midshipmen — Jasin Sinani, Nolan Dorsey, Cam Gregory, Caleb Zurliene, and Terren Frank.

After slow, lethargic starts in each of the last two games, the Buckeyes — Micah Parrish, mostly — knocked down five shots before the first media timeout. Parrish scored the first seven points of the game for Ohio State, and Mahaffey chipped in four as well. Campbell scored on four of its first seven possessions, and trailed Ohio State by just two points, 11-9, just over five minutes into the game.

Campbell hung around with Ohio State for the first 10 or so minutes of the game, but with 10:18 left in the half, the Buckeyes ripped off a 20-2 run, spearheaded by John Mobley, to assert themselves and go ahead by a score of 40-19. By halftime, the lead had ballooned to 26, as the Buckeyes jogged into the locker room up 53-27.

Mobley led all scorers with 19 points in the first half on 6-of-7 shooting and a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the arc. As a team, the Buckeyes shot 62.1% and were 11-of-13 (84.6%) from downtown. Thornton recorded five first-half assists, which, when combined with his last game totals 12 assists in his last three halves of basketball with zero turnovers.

The Buckeyes extended that lead to 34 by the under-12 media timeout, with Johnson and Royal leading the charge after Mobley and Parrish did most of the heavy lifting in the first half. Diebler was able to mix in some different lineups that included Colin White and Ivan Njegovan in the second half. With the sudden need at center, sophomore Austin Parks played a career-high 14 minutes.

Plenty of basketball happened over the final 12 minutes, but very little of it was of consequence with Ohio State winning this game by a whopping 44 points. For the second consecutive game, Diebler’s Buckeyes blew the doors off of a very overmatched foe, and on Friday night the final score was 104-60. It was the first time Ohio State has scored 100 points since Dec. 7, 2019, when the Buckeyes beat Penn State 106-74.

Mobley led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting and was 5-of-8 from three, despite playing just nine minutes in the second half. Five other Buckeyes scored in double digits: Royal (17), Parrish (16), Johnson (12), Mahaffey (11), and Thornton (11). Thornton also recorded seven assists and no turnovers for the second consecutive game, making his season-long assist-to-turnover ratio 26:3.

Bragi Gudmundsson scored 12 points off the bench for Campbell. Three other players scored an even 10 for the Camels, and as a team they shot a respectable 40.4%.

If you weren’t able to catch Ohio State’s fourth win of the season Friday night, here are a few key moments, plays, and stats that you should know about the Buckeyes’ win over the Fighting Camels:

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Parrish asserts himself early

Micah Parrish scored six points against Evansville on Tuesday night in 22 minutes. He followed that up on Friday night by scoring Ohio State’s first seven points in the first two minutes against Campbell. At 6-foot-6, Parrish was taller than every guard on Campbell’s roster, so he intentionally exploited that advantage and backed down multiple Camels in the paint to score. He also knocked down an early three-pointer.

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Mobley with the old swish-n-dish

Freshman guard John Mobley Jr. entered Friday night’s game averaging 13.5 points per game despite only playing about 19 minutes per game. Mobley — along with Austin Parks — were the first players off the bench for Ohio State at the 14:45 mark. By the 12:21 mark — just over two minutes of game time — Mobley was already up to eight points. He knocked down each of his first two three-point attempts of the game, and also drove to the basket and dropped in an up-and-under layup to put the Buckeyes up 19-13.

Three minutes later with Ohio State up 21-17, Thornton sprinted down the middle of the floor toward the basket, drawing three defenders in. He pivoted and passed back to Mobley at the top of the arc, who head faked as if he might shoot before making a quick extra pass to the far corner, where Meechie Johnson was waiting, wide open. Johnson buried the corner three to make it 24-17 with 9:15 remaining in the half and Mobley was credited with his sixth assist of the season.

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20-2 run blows it open for Ohio State

After Caleb Zurliene’s layup got Campbell back within three points with just over 10 minutes left in the first half, Ohio State powered up and went on a 20-2 run over the next 5:53 to take a commanding 40-19 lead. Mobley scored eight of the 20 points and assisted on a Parrish three, which means the freshman was responsible for more than half of the 20-point run all on his own.

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Buckeyes win the race to 69™️

With 13:47 left in the game, Johnson drove to the basket, scored, and was fouled by Sinani to put Ohio State up 70-37. That meant for the fourth time this season Ohio State had won the Race to 69, a vital statistic considering the Buckeyes are now a perfect 4-0 this season when they win the Race to 69.

Johnson hit the free throw as well, making it 71-37 Ohio State.

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Royal pulled after defensive lapse, just misses another double-double

With Ohio State up 87-42, Colby Duggan hit Zurliene with a bounce pass cutting towards the basket and away from the Buckeye who should have been on him, Devin Royal. Zurliene scored to make it 87-44, and Diebler immediately told Mahaffey to go in and get Royal at the next stoppage of play.

The sophomore forward ended up scoring on the next Ohio State possession, giving him 17 points and eight rebounds — two rebounds short of a second-consecutive double-double. The bucket did not delete the defensive lapse, however, and Diebler still pulled Royal with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. Diebler stood and talked with Royal for about 30 seconds before patting him on the back and letting Royal take a seat.

Royal’s 37 points over the last two games is the most he has scored in any two-game stretch in his career.

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Final lines:

John Mobley Jr.: 23 points (8-13 FG, 5-8 3PT), two rebounds, two assists, two steals (23 minutes)
Devin Royal: 17 points (7-9 FG), eight rebounds (25 minutes)
Micah Parrish: 16 points (6-9 FG, 4-4 3PT), nine rebounds, three assists (29 minutes)
Meechie Johnson: 12 points (5-9 FG, 1-4 3PT), four assists, three rebounds, (22 minutes)
Bruce Thornton: 11 points (3-7 FG, 2-3 3PT), seven assists (30 minutes)
Evan Mahaffey: 11 points (5-7 FG), three rebounds, three blocks, two assists (30 minutes)
Colin White: 6 points (3-4 FG), two rebounds (10 minutes)

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What’s next?

Ohio State (4-1) has the weekend off and will resume play Monday night against the Green Bay Phoenix (2-3). Green Bay is led by first-year head coach and former SportsCenter and ESPN radio host Doug Gottlieb. Green Bay was picked to finish 8th in the 11-team Horizon League and is currently No. 240 in the KenPom efficiency rankings.

Ohio State’s game against Green Bay is set to tip off at 7 p.m. ET on Monday and will be broadcast on BTN.