Justin Ahrens, Kyle Young Power Buckeyes Past Towson

Four Buckeyes finished in double figures as Ohio State surged to a third straight win.

Author:
Brendan Gulick
Dec 8, 2021 11:08 PM EST

Ohio State had its hands full Wednesday night with a Towson team that's as good as the Tigers have had in a long time. But thanks to an early second half 12-2 run, the Scarlet and Gray prevailed for a third straight game with a 85-74 victory.

Kyle Young played one of his best games of the season. He finished in double-figures for the fourth time in five games after scoring a season-high 16 against Penn State in Sunday's win.

Young pushed that mark a bit further with 18 tonight. E.J. Liddell (15 points) and Zed Key (13 points, nine rebounds) and Justin Ahrens (16 points) also led the way for Ohio State.

A pair of Justin Ahrens 3-balls seemed to put the game away, the second of which included an and-1 free throw that gave the Buckeyes a 73-57 with 6:28 to play. He'd add another one just moments later, his fifth of the night. But he left the game with just over three minutes left when he took an inadvertent elbow to the head and is being evaluated by the athletic training staff.

No word is immediately available on his status.

The biggest reason why Ohio State was able to pull away from a pesky Tiger team? The Buckeyes were fabulous from the free throw line. They had one of their best games of the year from the stripe, connecting on 21-of-25.

In front of one of the smallest crowds the Buckeyes will play in front of all season, there were instances where it felt like Ohio State wasn't playing with the necessary energy on defense against a good offensive team.

This wasn't the Buckeyes' most efficient offensive night, but a great offensive second half prevented Towson from making a meaningful run at an upset. Ohio State had 13 assists on 27 made baskets, plus they turned it over 13 times.

Zed Key was the brightest spot in an otherwise frustrating first half, scoring 11 points and making life challenging on both ends of the floor. Key's second half was considerably quieter, but his continued development in the paint is critical for an Ohio State team that hopes to make another good run through the Big Ten.

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