E.J. Liddell's Monster Night in South Bend Lifts Buckeyes Over Notre Dame
Considering all that has transpired in college basketball (and in the world, really) for the last nine months, Tuesday night's Ohio State game at Notre Dame was easily the biggest stage the Buckeyes been on. In fact, it was exactly nine months ago tonight that the Scarlet and Gray played a game in East Lansing, not knowing it would be their last game of the season.
How would they be ready for the Big Ten/ACC challenge against a Notre Dame team that has had a heavy dose of CoVID-induced cancellations at the beginning of the season?
After a disappointing end to the first half, the Buckeyes (4-0) went off for 56 points in the second stanza, hit critical free throws and played phenomenal defense down the stretch to secure a 90-85 victory.
E.J. Liddell had a monster second half. After not scoring from the floor and only hitting two free throws in the first twenty minutes, he scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, posting his second career double-double and lifting the Buckeyes to victory.
The last defensive stand of the game was perhaps the most impressive moment of the young season.
After C.J. Walker hit two free throws to put the Buckeyes up 88-85 with 17 seconds to play, Notre Dame (1-2) never got a chance to shoot a game-tying shot. They couldn't penetrate the Buckeye defense and eventually bobbled the ball out of bounds.
Walker finished with 16 points, as did Justice Sueing. Duane Washington Jr. had 13 points and Justin Ahrens cashed in 12 points on four 3-pointers.
With a couple of free throws from Notre Dame's Nate Laszewski at the 14:38 mark of the second half, the Fighting Irish took a 55-44 lead (their largest of the game). They were in control and Ohio State had been flat offensively for nearly 10 minutes of game action. The game was tied at 34-34 late in the first half before the Irish ripped off eight straight points to take the lead at the break.
But the relentless Buckeyes came sprinting back, taking a 69-64 lead when Musa Jallow hit a layup-and-1 with 6:24 to play. That capped a 25-9 run over an 8-minute stretch.
The Irish hit back-to-back 3's to briefly take the lead back, but Ohio State responded and never trailed the rest of the way.
Roughly two minutes prior to that Jallow lay-in, Notre Dame big man Juwan Durham fouled out of the game after he only had one foul at halftime. The Irish really missed his presence in the paint the rest of the way.
Part of the reason the Buckeyes got back into it was thanks to a much more concerted effort to get to the free throw line in the second half. The Buckeyes averaged nearly 30 free throws per game during the first three games this season. After shooting only six foul shots the first half (thanks in large part to some good 3-point shooting), the Scarlet and Gray connected on 16-of-18 from the charity line in the second half alone.
It was a noticeable effort from the Buckeyes to be more physical in the second half. Notre Dame prides itself in being one of the most disciplined teams in the country. They led the nation in fewest fouls committed last year, averaging just over 12 fouls per game. They committed 14 in the second half alone on Tuesday night.
Ohio State also really made the Irish pay for their mistakes.
The Buckeyes scored 24 points off 13 ND turnovers, while the Buckeyes turned it over only eight times all night (and just twice in the second half) and surrendered nine points off those miscues.
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