Ohio State went on a 21-0 run during a seven-minute stretch of the second half, as the Buckeyes defeated Oregon, 72-62, in Big Ten men’s basketball on Thursday night in Eugene, Ore.
Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. scored seven points each in that run. Royal’s 14 points in all led a balanced attack and Mobley added 13. Royal corralled 10 rebounds as Ohio State (11-4 overall, 3-2 in Big Ten) led for all but 19 seconds of the game.
Seven-foot Buckeye center Christoph Tilly shared game scoring honors with 14 points and added a pair of blocked shots.
The Buckeyes are 3-0 in conference road games for the first time since the 2017-2018 season.
The Ducks (8-8, 1-4) trailed by as many as 24 points in the second half, something fans at Matthew Knight Arena have rarely seen from the program under coach Dana Altman. They fought back with a strong finish to the game, but it was far too little, too late.
Nate Bittle had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Ducks and Takai Simpkins added 12, but the duo combined to convert only 7 of 28 shots from the floor.
Oregon made just 32.8% (20 of 61) of its shots for the game and 23.3% (7 of 30) from beyond the arc.
The Ducks played a third consecutive game without star guard Jackson Shelstad, their top scorer (15.6) who is out with a hand injury. They are 1-2 without him in the lineup.
Ohio State outrebounded Oregon 41-32 and had 34 points in the paint to 24 for the Ducks. The Buckeyes led by as many as 10 in the first half, and took a 34-29 lead into halftime.
Gabe Cupps and Bruce Thornton scored seven points each for Ohio State in the first half, while guard Wei Lin, starting in place of Shelstad, scored eight each for the Ducks in the opening 20 minutes.
Oregon whittled Ohio State’s lead to three points, 46-43, on a Kwame Evans Jr. 3-pointer with 14:05 to play. Then the Buckeyes’ massive surge came, allowing them to take control.
