Woods helps Buckeyes to overtake Creighton 69-60

The college basketball season is only nine days old, but Ohio State already has two wins on quality roads.

The Buckeyes opened the season on Nov. 7 with a 64-56 win at Cincinnati. They then made Purdue Fort Wayne a mockery at home last Sunday.

The series of early-season successes continued on Thursday night, as the Buckeyes jumped on their host, Creighton, a long-time rival of the Big East and NCAA, for a 12-point lead at home. halftime. Center in Omaha.

It started a stretch where Ohio State (3-0) will play four games in nine days. OSU interrupted the series of consecutive wins at Creighton's non-home conference dating back to 2015.

"It was an excellent environment," said OSU head coach Chris Holtmann. "The players are winning games and our guys have intensified and played to win. They really responded to the bell when it did not seem right.

Senior guard Keyshawn Woods was huge for the Buckeyes with 19 points and four assists. Woods offered his clutch baskets to C.J. Jackson and Kyle Young while OSU led 13-0 to close the game.

"He was fantastic," Holtmann said of Woods. "The pass to C.J. for an action we had organized. He makes a lot of passes. You know that he will not be able to do without a ton of guys who are faster than him. But he's doing the right thing. "

Duane Washington Jr., first-year goaltender, scored 12 points. Kaleb Wesson scored nine points, while Andre Wesson had eight points.

That night was tough for senior Jackson, who had just won his best career game with 25 points against Purdue Fort Wayne. He missed his first seven shots and had five turnovers. But he scored the six points in the final at 2:08 when the Buckeyes pulled him out.

Ty-Shon Alexander led Creighton (2-1) with 16 points while Davion Mintz added 12 points.

While the Buckeyes fired 48% behind the three-point arc (10 of 21), OSU limited Creighton to 36% of all-throws (9 of 25).

"Our guys understand that if we want to have a chance (the defense) has to be what we really are," said Holtmann. "The defense travels (on the road). If your state of mind prevents you from scoring goals in the half-court, it will help you a lot.

"It must be what we all are, we must learn from it."

After fleeing by seven at the earliest, Ohio State exploded in the last 10 minutes of the first half to go up 37-25 at halftime.

Woods stepped off the bench to steer OSU with 15 points while he was 5 of 7 off the floor and 3 out of 4 out of three. Kaleb Wesson added eight points and Washington scored seven. The Buckeyes were 7 out of 13 out of three in the first half.

Alexander led Creighton with eight points in the first period, but was limited after committing two fouls with just over 10 minutes left in the half.

Creighton had a 10-2, 12-5, 14-10 lead before the Buckeyes started to come together.

Barely out of the bench, Woods, Washington and Andre Wesson scored twice for the Buckeyes and earned their first lead at 19-14.

After Creighton reduced the lead to 23-21, OSU scored 14-4 to close the half. This race included a Woods three from the right corner, Kaleb Wesson was shot by a bank and Washington blocked a 19-foot turn from the left corner. Kaleb Wesson's three goals over a Luther Muhammad center allowed the Buckeyes to climb 37-25 at the break.

Alexander hit a three and a jumper while Creighton quickly reduced the lead to seven at 39-32.

OSU returned to 12-46-34 after Muhammad scored, Kaleb Wesson got a back pass after a pass from Muhammad and Andre Wesson buried three passes.

Creighton scored 14-2 to tie at 48-48. The race included trios from Mintz, Jefferson and Alexander in transition to tie the game at 9:48.

OSU briefly scored 53-50 after a rebound basket from Jaedon LeDee. But Creighton tied on a three by Marcus Zegarowski to make it 53-53 with 6:46 left.

Creighton took his first lead in almost 25 minutes with a Krampelj faceoff that raised the score to 55-54 with 5:40 remaining in the game. Mintz scored for a 57-54 lead with 4:15 left.

OSU's Kyle Young scored on a rebound basket to reduce it to 57-56 with 3:54 to go. The teams exchanged trios while Mitch Ballock scored one for Creighton, but first-year Washington responded by reducing his lead to 60-59 with 2:40 remaining.

After a missed free kick by Creighton, OSU Woods led the hallway and returned to the troubled Jackson. He simulates almost as if he did not know what to do. But he goes up and puts the three canned left wing for a 62-60 lead with 2:08 left.

After a defeat by Alexander of Creighton, Woods entered the hallway and found Young in the back for a jam and a 64-60 lead with 1:21 left.

After a turnover in Creighton, Jackson scored for a 66-60 lead with 46 seconds to go.

After a failure of Creighton, Jackson managed one of two free throws for a lead of 67-60. Andre Wesson's two free throws crowned him.

"They were good enough," Holtmann said of the Creighton race. "We were a little bit in trouble with their ball screen they did and their pace in half-court. We had some young guys there and we did not handle that very well. We just tried to stay with her.

"Against these guys, you have to score points or it just feeds their transition."

Also remarkable

* OSU-Creighton series: Ohio State now leads the all-time series with Creighton 6-3. Creighton won the last meeting on November 24, 2004 in Kansas City, Missouri (65-63 in overtime).

* The Gavitt Tipoff Games are an annual series organized between the Big Ten and Big East conferences and named in honor of Dave Gavitt, founder of the Big East Visionary and Basketball. The series is in its fourth year and will extend over eight years with games played at home. The Games will be held during the first full week of the university basketball season.

The Buckeyes are now 2-0 in the event with a win over Providence in 2016.

* Next to the file: The State of Ohio will return home and welcome the state of South Carolina (1-2) at 2 pm. Sunday at Value City Arena.

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