Ohio State delivers emphatic statement in 74-49 win at North Carolina
Sixth-ranked Buckeyes bully the Tar Heels in Dean Dome.
By Kyle Rowland / The Blade
Thu, 05 Dec 2019 04:38:49 GMT
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Ohio State is for real.
Inside a pulsating Dean E. Smith Center Wednesday, the sixth-ranked Buckeyes proved their ranking isn’t a mirage, delivering another emphatic statement against a top-10 opponent.
This time No. 7 North Carolina was the victim, falling at home, 74-49, to an Ohio State team that played its usual tremendous defense with an added offensive flair. The Tar Heels were just 17-of-62 shooting, the eighth team in eight games to be held under 38 percent and not score 60 points.
“There’s not a lot to say,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “I’ve had my butt beat before and it’ll be beat again, and I’ll live to face another day. Their team was better than our team. Their coach was a lot better than our coach.”
A 14-0 run late in the game served as an exclamation mark on a night OSU looked as good as any team in the nation. The Buckeyes were 26-of-56 from the field for the night and shot 53.6 percent in the second half. They made 10 total 3-pointers.
As the final seconds ticked off, hundreds of Ohio State fans serenaded the Dean Dome with chants of “O-H-I-O.” The margin of defeat was the second-largest in the arena’s history and North Carolina had its worst-ever shooting performance in the building.
“Probably the last minute, [assistant coach] Ryan Pedon said, ‘Hey, you might want to take a moment to look at the score,’” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “I just told him, ‘Let’s get our guys ready for Saturday.”
Duane Washington Jr., who’s made more than 50 percent of his 3-pointers this season, scored a game-high 18 points with four 3s, E.J. Liddell had 12 points, and Kaleb Wesson and C.J. Walker each had 10.
North Carolina freshman Cole Anthony, a probable NBA lottery pick in 2020, had 15 points on 15 shots, which hamstrung the Tar Heel offense. He was the only North Carolina player in double figures.
“It’s been the same approach all year,” Washington said. “Attention to details, play really hard, and be the tougher team. We came out and had a chip on our shoulder and fought hard.”
The final seven minutes and 40 seconds of the first half were a disaster for Ohio State, which missed all seven of its field goal attempts and turned the ball over seven times. The Buckeyes didn’t score at all in the last four minutes, squandering an opportunity to open a sizable lead on the Tar Heels.
Ohio State still led 29-27 at halftime, and then went on a 10-3 run to open the second half. North Carolina only got within single digits once in the final 14 minutes.
“Really pleased with the first six minutes of the second half,” Holtmann said. “I thought that was maybe our best basketball. We settled down, we made smart decisions, we attacked them in certain areas. I thought that was our best stretch of the game, and that was critical.”
The front-court size of North Carolina caused issues for Ohio State early, as Wesson and Kyle Young were ineffective on offense and growing frustrated. But 6-foot-10 freshman Armando Bacot suffered an ankle injury midway through the first half and did not return, creating chances for Ohio State to make shots near the basket, rebound the basketball, and defend at both ends of the court.
“That was a tremendous difference,” Holtmann said.
The Buckeyes outrebounded North Carolina 48-32 and had 16 second-chance points thanks to 13 offensive rebounds.
“They're a really good offensive rebounding team,” Washington said. “We were very focused on boxing out and making sure they had no second-chance opportunities. We worked on it all week and prepared for it, and here we are.”
The victory comes nearly five years to the day of what can be considered a career-altering win for Holtmann, then Butler’s interim coach, who engineered an upset over No. 5 North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis. The interim tag was removed from his title six weeks later.
“It was a huge win for our team and for our program,” Holtmann said. “Since then, [Williams] has really kicked my fanny, to be honest with you. It was arguably one of the most important wins I’ve been a part of. Job security at that point was very much up in the air. I think that win solidified us as a staff — I know it did because of the text message I got from my A.D. afterward.”
North Carolina beat Holtmann’s teams in both matchups since, until Wednesday night, when the Buckeyes went to Chapel Hill and told the country they’re not just a football school.