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COLUMBUS, Ohio—If defenses were ranked, Morehead State men’s basketball would be a Top 25 squad.
The Eagles lost 64-45 to No. 3 Ohio State Tuesday night at the Scottenstein Center, but for the second straight game, MSU held a top 10 team under 65 points.
It was by far the fewest points the Buckeyes have scored this season, after posting 102, 93 and 81 points in their previous three games. MSU held Jared Sullinger, OSU’s leading scorer at 18.7 points to just eight Tuesday. It was the second time in as many games the Eagles have neutralized the other team’s leading scorer. Morehead State forced 16 turnovers, 12 of which came off steals.
Kenneth Faried had the 61st double-double of his career, scoring 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Eagles. He was stymied in the second half by foul trouble, limiting him to 15 minutes of playing time in the second half.
"Obviously when Faried picked up his fourth foul, that was detrimental and it hurt our team," MSU coach
Donnie Tyndall said. "He gives us a presence at both ends of the floor, and we had to sit him out for about a five to six minute stretch. That changes the complexion of how we defend. We don't have that shot blocking ability or the changing of shot ability. Everything we do offensively is predicated on working inside out off of him, so we had to change a little bit of what we did. It gave some other young guys an opportunity to play, and hopefully they'll benefit from that down the road."
Morehead State led by as many as five in the first half after Sam Goodman started hot, scoring seven of the Eagles’ first nine points. The teams traded points through the first half until late when the Buckeyes pushed a lead out to seven thanks to a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Jon Diebler. The lead hovered there until halftime, where the margin was six.
The game stayed nip-and-tuck for the first five minutes of the second half, but at 15:19 Faried picked up his fourth foul and OSU took advantage of the younger MSU frontcourt, immediately jumping its lead from five to nine. A layup by Sullinger pushed the advantage to double digits for the first time and six minutes later a layup by Deshaun Thomas made it double digits for good.
"I feel like certainly Ohio State is a team -- knock on wood, if they stay healthy -- that can compete for a national championship," Tyndall said. "I do feel like we competed, they just wore us down in probably the last six to eight minutes of the game, Tyndall said.
Ty Proffit, whose timely 3-pointers helped keep OSU from making an offensive run, finished with 12 points from four made triples. Faried also had five steals and
Demonte Harper, who scored nine, dished out six assists.
Diebler, who like Proffitt made four 3-pointers, led all scorers with 20 points Thomas had 16 points and David Lighty added 11 for the homestanding Buckeyes. Lighty also had a game-high seven assists.
Morehead State will next travel to incoming OVC member SIU Edwardsville Sunday for a 5 p.m. Eastern tip. The Cougars are completing their transition to Division I and do not count as a conference game yet.
