CLEVELAND — For the third time since the 2019-20 season, Ohio State and West Virginia are squaring off on the home floor of the NBA’s Cavaliers.
It’s a chance for the Buckeyes to bounce back after an 88-80 loss to No. 13 Illinois on Dec. 9 and a game that coach Jake Diebler said will see them field a healthier roster.
“I think we’re resilient,” Diebler said Dec. 12. “We’re trying to play with that same urgency at a high level more consistently. We’re showing improvement in that. That’s what we’re fighting for is more possessions of high-level Ohio State basketball play.”
Ohio State is 7-2 and West Virginia is 8-3. Follow along with all the game action at our Dispatch live blog below.
With 3:45 left in double overtime, Ohio State’s Devin Royal fouled Chance Moore on a drive and checked out with five fouls. Moore hit both free throws and it’s a 79-77 Mountaineers lead.
West Virginia got the final shot, but Honor Huff’s final drive was off the mark and the Buckeyes and Mountaineers are going to double overtime tied at 77. The first overtime featured five lead changes, and Ohio State’s Devin Royal missed a free throw with 23.2 seconds left that could’ve been the game-winning point.
John Mobley Jr. missed a 3-pointer, then drew a charge to negate West Virginia’s final drive with four seconds left and give the Buckeyes one final attempt. Bruce Thornton’s deep 3-pointer didn’t fall, and after trailing by 16 points Ohio State is going to overtime against West Virginia.
John Mobley Jr.’s 3-point heave gave Ohio State a 68-66 lead with 1:03 left, but a West Virginia layup with 36.2 seconds remaining knotted the game at 68.
The Buckeyes have the ball with 24 seconds left after calling timeout with 17 on the shot clock.
The Buckeyes have strung together three consecutive defensive stops and will have possession after this under-4 timeout. West Virginia leads 63-59 with 3:30 to play.
It’s been a wild few minutes. The Buckeyes are on a 17-4 run to pull within 55-52, and they had a chance to tie the game as Bruce Thornton pulled up for a 3-pointer in transition. It came drastically short, and Thornton and Diebler were both calling out that contact was made, but no foul was called.
At the other end, West Virginia’s Brenen Lorient drew a touch foul on a drive to the basket, sending the teams into the under-8 timeout with 7:27 to play. After not getting the call at one end and then getting called for one at the other, Diebler immediately lit into the officials, who quickly assessed the technical.
West Virginia led by as many as 16 points, but Ohio State has used a full-court press and some offensive aggression to pull within 55-50 with 8:51 to play. The Buckeyes have the ball.
It’s still a double-digit deficit for the Buckeyes, but freshman forward Amare Bynum has scored on the last two possessions and Ohio State is on a modest 6-0 run to pull within 51-41 as West Virginia has called timeout with 11:49 left.
The Buckeyes have strung together three consecutive defensive stops.
The Mountaineers have scored on five straight possessions, the last two of which have been on 3-pointers, and now lead by a game-high 16 points. It’s 51-35 with 14 minutes to play after Ohio State coach Jake Diebler called timeout and lit into his players in the huddle.
Ohio State’s inability to grab a loose ball has fed into this stretch. Down 45-35, Amare Bynum had an offensive rebound go off his hands. At the other end, the Mountaineers missed, but Christoph Tilly couldn’t corral the long rebound and it ended with a Honor Huff 3-pointer.
The official stats are incorrect, but Buckeyes wing Devin Royal just went to the bench with 17:04 to play after picking up his fourth foul, three of which came during the first half.
West Virginia leads Ohio State 43-33 with 15:53 to play in the game as the Buckeyes have not been able to cut into the Mountaineers’ lead.
The next 20 minutes might be as impactful as any in Ohio State’s season. West Virginia outscored the Buckeyes 20-8 in the final 8:13 of the first half to take a 37-27 lead into the break at Rocket Arena.
The Mountaineers closed the half with a 3-pointer from Honor Huff, a prolific shooter who hadn’t gotten on the board until he was caught in the right corner, double-teamed and still heaved in a shot that found only net.
Nothing has gone right for Ohio State. The Buckeyes are 2 for 12 from 3-point range, have multiple starters in foul trouble and can’t get stops. Ohio State led 19-17 but West Virginia scored on five straight possessions and seven of eight to steadily build its lead.
After losing at Pitt on Nov. 28 and at home to No. 13 Illinois on Dec. 9, the Buckeyes’ early-season resume can’t afford a loss to a West Virginia team ranked No. 71 at KenPom.com.
Someone will have to get going offensively in the second half for the Buckeyes to have any chance of pulling off the comeback.
Taison Chatman’s 3-point play with 9:35 left in the first half gave the Buckeyes a 19-17 lead, but they would not score again until Devin Royal’s putback with 4:29 left. In between, the Mountaineers scored 11 straight points and built a 28-19 lead.
West Virginia scored on five straight possessions, the last two of which were wide-open 3-pointers, and leads 28-21 with 3:34 left in the first half.
The Buckeyes’ high-powered offense has largely been held in check through the early going. West Virginia and Ohio State are tied at 19 with 7:47 to play in the half.
West Virginia is 0-3 when allowing an adjusted offensive efficiency of 95.7 points per 100 possessions or higher. Ohio State has been higher than that mark in all nine of its games so far.
The redshirt sophomore guard hadn’t seen game action since the Nov. 25 win against Mount St. Mary’s and was a healthy scratch in each of the last two games, but he subbed in near the midpoint of the first half against the Mountaineers and connected on a three-point play for his first points since that game.
For the first time since suffering an ankle injury at Pitt, John Mobley Jr. looks like himself again. He swished two free throws, breaking a stretch of going 2 for 8 from the line, and he’s buried two 3-pointers to give him 8 points.
Ohio State leads 16-14 with 10:27 left in the half. The have forced three West Virginia turnovers and are winning the rebounding battle 10-7.
Ohio State guard Gabe Cupps subbed in early and picked up a foul on consecutive defensive possessions, sending him back to the bench and bringing Colin White into the game.
Ohio State leads 11-9 with 12:57 to play in the first.
Taking care of the the ball was emphasized as a major key for the Buckeyes leading into this game, but Ohio State has three turnovers on its first eight possessions and trails the Mountaineers 8-5 at the first media timeout.
Listen to the reaction to the introduction of the two teams.
Here are tonight’s starters:
Ohio State: Bruce Thornton, John Mobley Jr., Devin Royal, Brandon Noel, Christoph Tilly
West Virginia: Honor Huff, Jasper Floyd, Brenen Lorient, Treysen Eaglestaff, Harlan Obioha
A few minutes after Ohio took down St. Bonaventure 88-83 in overtime, Ohio State’s players are on the court with an expected tip time of 8:01 p.m.
Dispatch writer Adam Jardy’s pregame thoughts for Ohio State-West Virginia
Columbus Dispatch men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy shares his pregame thoughts before Ohio State plays West Virginia in Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.
Ohio State’s game against West Virginia, as well as the Ohio-St. Bonaventure game currently being played as paert of the doubleheader, will only feature fans in the lower bowl of the arena. The upper section of Rocket Arena is covered by a black curtain.
No surprises on the official availability report for Ohio State. Josh Ojianwuna remains out as he continues to recover from knee surgery, and Myles Herro is redshirting, but otherwise everyone is available.
Ohio State vs West Virginia score updates
This section will be updated when the game begins.
- Date: Saturday, Dec. 13
- Start time: 8 p.m. ET
The Ohio State vs West Virginia game starts at 8 p.m. from Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
- TV Channel: ESPNU
- Livestream: ESPN+
- Radio: WBNS-FM (97.1)
Ohio State vs. West Virginia will air nationally on ESPNU. John Schriffen and King McClure will call the game. Streaming options for the game include Sling, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Stream Ohio State vs. West Virginia
- Series record: Ohio State leads, 10-8
- Ohio State’s last win: Dec. 30, 2023 (78-75, OT, in Cleveland)
- West Virginia’s last win: Dec. 29, 2019 (67-59, in Cleveland)
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Friday, Dec. 12
Spread: Ohio State by 3.5
Over/under: 144.5
Moneyline: Ohio State (-190); West Virginia (+155)
Ohio State men’s basketball schedule
- Oct. 26 – Ohio University (exhibition) W, 103-74 (takeaways)
- Nov. 3 – IU Indy, W, 118-102 (takeaways)
- Nov. 7 – Purdue Fort Wayne, W, 94-68 (takeaways)
- Nov. 11 – Appalachian State, W 75-53 (takeaways)
- Nov. 16 – Notre Dame, W 64-63 (takeaways)
- Nov. 20 – Western Michigan W, 91-58 (takeaways)
- Nov. 25 – Mount St. Mary’s W, 113-60 (takeaways)
- Nov. 28 – at Pitt L, 67-66 (takeaways)
- Dec. 6 – at Northwestern W, 86-82 (takeaways)
- Dec. 9 – Illinois L, 88-80 (takeaways)
- Dec. 13 – vs. West Virginia (Cleveland Hoops Showdown, Cleveland)
- Dec. 20 – vs. North Carolina (CBS Sports Classic, Atlanta)
- Dec. 23 – Grambling State
- Jan. 2 – at Rutgers
- Jan. 5 – Nebraska
- Jan. 8 – at Oregon
- Jan. 11 – at Washington
- Jan. 17 – UCLA
- Jan. 20 – Minnesota
- Jan. 23 – at Michigan
- Jan. 26 – Penn State
- Jan. 31 – at Wisconsin
- Feb. 5 – at Maryland
- Feb. 8 – Michigan
- Feb. 11 – USC
- Feb. 14 – vs. Virginia (Nashville Hoops Showdown, Nashville)
- Feb. 17 – Wisconsin
- Feb. 22 – at Michigan State
- Feb. 25 – at Iowa
- March 1 – Purdue
- March 4 – at Penn State
- March 7 – Indiana
Buy Ohio State vs. West Virginia men’s basketball tickets
Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
