COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Citadel men's basketball team closed out the non-conference portion of the 2017-18 campaign Tuesday night with a 94-65 loss at Ohio State on the Big Ten Network at Value City Arena.
"Congratulations to Ohio State. We're not usually that bad offensively, but I give all the credit to Ohio State because they didn't allow us to do a lot of the things we normally try to do," said head coach
Duggar Baucom. "We were able to do a little more the second half, but really not the first half when the game was decided.
Coach Holtmann had those guys ready to play, there was no looking forward to North Carolina and that's credit to him and his staff. They were focused solely on The Citadel and what we do and they made it very difficult for us by keeping us out of the paint. They made it very difficult for us to finish shots inside. We never got them spread out enough to penetrate, except for a couple of possessions in the second half.
"We made them shoot 35 threes, but unfortunately they made 13 of them," continued Baucom. "They made three against App State on Saturday, so I was hoping for a similar shooting performance. In a game like this for us, you just kind of play the odds and I thought (Ohio State) shot it very well.
Keita Bates-Diop, I think he's going to play at the next level. I think he's really good. And other guys like
Kam Williams stepped up and made shots. They're not usually going to have to make 13 three-pointers because they like to pass it in to the big men so much, but they certainly made them tonight."
The Citadel (5-7) was able to hang with the Buckeyes (10-3) during the early going of the contest, keeping within striking distance as
Tariq Simmons hit a layup nearly five minutes in that had the Bulldogs within three, 12-9 of the Buckeyes.
After
Andre Wesson gave Ohio State its first double-digit lead with 9:42 remaining in the first half, putting the Buckeyes up 22-12, Simmons hit a three-pointer to cut back into the deficit, but Ohio State went on a 15-0 run from there to open up the lead.
Ohio State established a 44-23 lead by halftime after the Bulldogs struggled to shoot the ball down the stretch, converting just 22.9% (8-of-35) of their attempts from the field in the first half. The Bulldogs failed to score any points for nearly five minutes twice in the first half, allowing the Buckeyes to stretch the lead out from single digits to 21 by the intermission.
The second half proved to be a better performance for the Bulldogs as far as shooting goes as the Bulldogs hit on 41.7% (15-of-36) of their shot attempts from the field and converted eight of their 18 three-point attempts (44.4%). However, the Bulldogs could just not close in on the Buckeyes as Ohio State shot 50.0% (37-of-74) from the field for the game, including a blistering 59.4% (19-of-32) in the first stanza.
Freshman
Kaiden Rice set a new career high as he led the Bulldogs in scoring with 14 points, including converting four three-pointers. Fellow freshman
Alex Reed followed up his career day on Saturday, Dec. 16 – where he scored 18 points against Point – by netting 11 off 4-of-6 shooting (66.7%) from the field, including 3-of-5 (60.0%) from three-point range.
Junior
Zane Najdawi was the final Bulldog to score in double figures with 11 in 25 minutes of work.
Quayson Williams led the team with seven rebounds while
Kaelon Harris brought down six boards, matching Najdawi on the glass.
Ohio State was led by a quartet of players in double figures, including Bates-Diop and Williams both with 17 points.
C.J. Jackson netted 13 points while
Andrew Dakich chipped in 10. Bates-Diop, Jackson and Williams all converted three three-pointers and Jackson had seven assists on the night.
FAST BREAK FACTS
- With 13 three-pointers Tuesday night against Ohio State, the Bulldogs have now converted at least one three-pointer in 340 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 16, 2007, a road game at Davidson.
- With one three-pointer against the Buckeyes, Matt Frierson has now converted at least one three-pointer in 18 consecutive games. He boasts 142 career treys, 10th most in program history.
- Freshman Kaiden Rice set a new career high for three-pointers made in a game Tuesday as he knocked down four treys against the Buckeyes. He also set a new career high for points scored as he netted 14.
- Freshman Alex Reed scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time in his collegiate career as he netted 11 points against Ohio State after scoring a career-high 18 on Saturday, Dec. 16 against Point.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will now be off for 10 days to enjoy the holidays before turning their attention to Southern Conference (SoCon) play. The Citadel will open the 2017-18 SoCon slate with a 1 p.m. game against Western Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 30. The game is being billed as First Responders Day.
For more information on The Citadel basketball team, follow @CitadelHoops and @CitadelSports or visit CitadelSports.com.
