Ohio State Buckeyes Dominate Merrimack Warriors in Mid-Week Contest
The Ohio State Buckeyes improved to 2-1 on Wednesday night, defeating the Merrimack Warriors 76-52 at the Schottenstein Center.
Sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. led the Buckeyes with 20 points against the Warriors, while senior forward Zed Key cleaned up the glass with a season-high 12 rebounds.
The non-conference game marked the third contest in a row Ohio State has played on its home floor to open the season. This Sunday's rodeo against the Western Michigan Broncos will mark the end of the season-opening homestand.
Junior guard Devon Savage topped the box score for Merrimack with 20 points, followed by sophomore forward Bryan Etumnu and freshman guard Adam Clark with 11 and eight points respectively. As a team, the Warriors shot 40 percent from the floor and 36 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
Speaking of shooting from deep, his team's clip from outside the rainbow (17 percent) was a concern Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann had after last Friday's 73-66 loss against the then-No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies. Much to his pleasure, the Buckeyes blew their three-point mark against the Aggies out of the water with a 57% performance against the Warriors.
Ohio State out-performed Merrimack in free-throw percentage (70-60), points off turnovers (26-15) and total rebounds (42-25). The Warriors finished the game with an advantage in only one statistical category: fast-break points (11-4).
Next up for Ohio State is a game against the Western Michigan Broncos on Sunday, November 19. The game, part of the Emerald Coast Classic tournament, will tip-off at 4 p.m. inside the Schottenstein Center.
