NCAA Basketball: Takeaways from Ohio State’s narrow victory over Cincinnati

Ohio State Basketball pulled off a 64-56 victory against the Cincinnati Bearcats Wednesday. The Bearcats didn’t go away quietly. Here are three takeaways from that game

Coming into this game, I expected each team to play fast, take good shots and this to be a high scoring matchup. What the fans of each team and those watching at home received was a defensive battle with among both teams and a near comeback by the Bearcats.

Poor shooting from the field for both squads

Both of these teams shot the ball poorly. The game had a halftime score of 27-18 Ohio State. Even though both teams lost offensive firepower last season, you would think that their shot selection would have been a lot better. This game should not have been as low scoring in the first half as it was.

Ohio State played stout defense

Ohio State held Cincinnati to 13.8 percent field goal percentage on 4-29 shooting at the half and continued that with 15:29 left in the game. Their field goal percentage didn’t get any better up to that point.

The Buckeyes held Cincinnati to 27.4 percent shooting from the field on 17 of 62 shooting at the game’s conclusion. They played primarily zone defense which had a lot to do with that.

The question is though, can Ohio State’s defense be this stout against tougher competition as the season goes on?

They’ll play teams like UCLA out of conference, Maryland, Northwestern and Michigan State in the Big Ten this season.

Cincinnati showed resiliency under pressure

From the 14:17 mark in the second half, Cincinnati scored seven unanswered points leading to a 41-32 Ohio State lead with 11:42 left. The Bearcats started pressuring on defense and if they couldn’t make a stop, they fouled the Buckeyes.

With under 3:30 to go in the game the Bearcats cut Ohio State’s lead to eight, 55-47. Ohio State’s backs were against the wall as they had a 4 point lead with under a minute left 60-56.

Unfortunately for Cincinnati, their defensive efforts down the stretch weren’t enough as Ohio State took this win on the road 64-56. Kaleb Wesson (15 points, seven rebounds) and C.J. Jackson (13 points) led the way for the Buckeyes. Jarron Cumberland led the Bearcats in points with 22.