By Danielle Daniels
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. scored a career-high 32 points and Ohio State held on for a gritty 78-75 overtime victory over West Virginia in the Legends of Basketball Showcase at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday.
The win was the 11th of the season for the Buckeyes who are now 11-2 overall.
In addition to his 32 points, Gayle Jr. finished with seven rebounds and six assists to lead the Buckeyes offense. Graduate transfer Jamison Battle added 17 points after knocking down five three-pointers, all coming in the second half and overtime.
The Buckeyes got started early with Gayle Jr. scoring his first five points in the opening two minutes of play, spearheading the team to an early 24-10 lead. The Mountaineers would go on an 11-0 scoring run, knifing into the lead as the Buckeyes missed 11 consecutive shots. A lay-up by Bruce Thornton ended the drought and the Buckeyes led 28-26 at the break.
Ohio State would get into a rhythm early in the second half as Battle hit back-to-back threes and forced three turnovers to grab a 40-30 lead. Battle would finish the game with five (5-of-11) three pointers.
Another Mountaineer run would cut the lead to six with under 10 minutes to play in regulation but threes by freshman Scottie Middleton and Battle would keep the Buckeyes ahead. Gayle Jr. eclipsed his career high (25 points) after knocking down three free throws to give Ohio State a 58-49 lead at the seven-minute mark.
West Virginia slowly chipped away in the closing minutes of regulation and got a lay-up with 29 seconds to play to pull even at 65-65. Gayle Jr.’s shot at the buzzer was short and the game went to overtime.
As tough of a night as the Buckeyes had shooting, they were a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in overtime. That was key as the Mountaineers kept pace and took advantage of a number of Buckeye misses from the free throw line. A WVU miss from the line with eight seconds to play was rebounded and passed out to Gayle who dribbled-out the clock to seal the 78-75 victory.
- Roddy Gayle Jr. finished with a career-high 32 points on 11-of-21 shooting.
- This was Gayle Jr.’s first 30-point game and the third game this season with 20 or more points.
- The last 30-point game for a Buckeye was Justice Sueing’s 33-point effort vs. Texas Tech on Nov. 23, 2022.
- Jamison Battle finished with five three-pointers and has made at least one three-pointer in every game this season. This was his third game this season with five or more three-point field goals.
- Battle has been in double figures in 11 of the 13 games this season.
- Felix Okpara extended his consecutive games with a block to 19 with three blocks on the night.
- The 34 three-point attempts were a season-high for the Buckeyes and the most since 34 three-point attempts on Jan. 2, 2022, in an overtime win at Nebraska.
- With the win, Ohio State has now won all four of its neutral site games this season.
- This was the 50th overtime victory in program history. Ohio State is now 50-62 all-time in overtime games and this was the first overtime win since beating Indiana at home on Feb. 21, 2022. The Buckeyes lost both overtime games last season.
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