Buckeyes open Jake Diebler era with statement victory over No. 19 Texas, 80-72

Using the energy Diebler promoted on both ends of the court, the Buckeyes defeated No. 19 Texas in a neutral-site game in the Hall of Fame Series, never trailing by an 80-72 victory.

Senior guards Bruce Thornton and Micah Parrish led the Buckeyes with 20 and 17 points, respectively, followed closely by second-year forward Devin Royal with 16.

Freshman John Mobley Jr. was the revelation of the night for Ohio State, scoring 14 points in Las Vegas, where he spent several high school basketball seasons playing for Bishop Gorman. The four-star prospect lived up to his nickname “the sniper” and won 4-on-4 from downtown.

The Buckeyes took a perimeter-centric approach offensively as a team, scoring 14 of 28 from beyond the arc.

Freshman Tre Johnson led the Longhorns with 29 points.

First half

Ohio State came out firing. In the first four minutes of the game, the Buckeyes attempted seven 3-point shots and four of them hit nylon.

Thornton started the show with a clean attempt off a deep dribble on Ohio State's first shot of the season, sparking an 8-0 run to open the contest. Parrish, Meechie Johnson Jr., Royal and Mobley all joined him in hitting three-pointers before the under-12 media timeout, which the Buckeyes entered with a 21-16 lead.

This result was indicative of the game's early tempo, which Diebler boosted by introducing ten players into the game within the first eight minutes. Tre Johnson kept the Longhorns within striking distance early, scoring eight points in the first nine minutes of the game. He hit a hard-fought layup to cut the early lead to 21-18.

Then Mobley knocked down two consecutive 3-pointers, the latter closer to the half-court line than the actual 3-point line. Meechie Johnson added his own triple and when the dust settled, a 12-0 run was capped at a 33-18 Ohio State lead.

Texas responded right away with a 10-0 run of its own. The Buckeyes maintained a high intensity defensively as their shots were a little colder and built a 38-31 lead by halftime.

Second half

The first few minutes of the second period remained tense for the most part, with a corner three-pointer and two free throws from Mobley helping to push the Buckeye lead back into double digits at 51-40.

Texas responded again, this time with a 6-0 run as Ohio State's starting forwards Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart each picked up their third foul. But Thornton silenced the noise with his third three-pointer of the contest.

The teams went back and forth. The Longhorns cut the lead to 59-56 and then 61-58 to three, but Parrish had another 3-point answer for Ohio State that increased the score to 64-58 with 7:19 to play.

Before Texas knew who it was facing, that three-pointer started an extended 10-1 run, capped by a three-pointer from Royal that made it 71-59 for Ohio State with 5:13 to play. A 3-pointer from Tre Johnson did little to help the Longhorns, as Thornton scored five straight points to make the score 76-64 with 2:49 to play.

What's next?

Ohio State has a week off before its home opener against Youngstown State, a chance to rest and get fit at Value City Arena. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

Game notes

• Ohio State shot 10 of 17 from 3 and just 2 of 16 from 2 in the first half.

• After that start, the Buckeyes finished the game with an overall shooting percentage of 55.6% in the second half.