With Thad Matta in the building, Ohio State beats Butler 82-73 in final preseason bout

The Ohio State men’s basketball team had its final pre-season tune-up of the fall Sunday afternoon in Columbus, taking on the Butler Bulldogs in front of a smattering of scarlet-clad fans.

It was a special day for the Ohio State basketball family and the Diebler family, with program legend Jon Diebler returning to the Schott, 15 years after he wrapped up an illustrious career donning the scarlet and gray. On top of that, former Ohio State head coach Thad Matta was in the building Sunday afternoon for just the second time since he left, and was honored at halftime for both his accomplishments at Ohio State and reaching 500 career wins last season while at Butler, his alma mater.

Advertisement

Jake Diebler made it clear ahead of Sunday’s game that he would be managing substitutions and in-game situations closer to how he would a regular season game (as opposed to the outdoor exhibition against Cincinnati), and went with a starting five that very well may be the Buckeyes’ starting lineup next week against No. 25 BYU. Justin Pippen and John Mobley Jr. started at the two guard spots, with Anthony Thompson and Amare Bynum at forward and Andrija Jelavic at center.

Both teams were firing in the first half, with Ohio State and Butler combining to go 13-for-28 from three-point land. The Buckeyes in particular were knocking them down at a high clip, hitting eight of their 14 tries from downtown.

Ohio State took a 45-38 lead into halftime, with freshman guard LJ Smith leading the way with 12 first-half points. He was a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, and also blocked a shot. Sophomore forward Amare Bynum chipped in 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including three violent fastbreak dunks where the 245-pounder got going downhill like a running back and the Butler defenders had no choice but to get out of the way.

The Bulldogs made a run early in the second half, but Ohio State pushed the lead back to double-digits, with Mobley and Bynum to thank. The two returnees were the Buckeyes’ most…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/thad-matta-building-ohio-state-200100666.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-10-25 20:01:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.