Behind Roddy Gayle Jr., Ohio State closes strong in blowout win against Merrimack
Merrimack’s vaunted zone defense made the trip to Value City Arena. From the second Ohio State attempted to encroach upon the 3-point line, the Warriors were there, swarming around the ball and causing problems.
There were some issues. Merrimack did turn the Buckeyes over, particularly in a stretch to open the second half. But on its home court against an overmatched underdog, Ohio State had Roddy Gayle Jr. and Evan Mahaffey and that would be enough.
Gayle tied a career scoring high, Mahaffey was a catalyst inside the Merrimack defense and the Buckeyes (2-1) never trailed in a 76-52 win against Merrimack (2-2).
"The zone obviously bothered us a little bit and we played some long defensive possessions," Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. "They were playing pretty deliberate on offense but it was good to see those guys make a few shots and break it open."
Merrimack, which entered the game ranked No. 312 nationally according to KenPom.com, was picked to finish fourth in the nine-team Northeast Conference preseason poll. The Warriors were without leading scorer and rebounder Jordan Derkack, who suffered a leg injury in Sunday’s win at Maine.
With 9:24 to play, Merrimack's Samba Diallo hit two free throws to pull the Warriors within 49-43. Ohio State countered with a decisive drive and finish from Jamison Battle that started in the left corner.
It was all Buckeyes from there. Gayle hit a 3, Zed Key scored on a put-back, Battle hit a 3, Bruce Thornton hit a 3, Battle hit another and it added up to a 16-0 run for Ohio State that eliminated any doubts. Battle's final 3 in the sequence gave the Buckeyes a 65-43 lead with 5:32 to play.
Gayle's 20 points tied a career high and he added five rebounds and three assists. Battle finished with 13 points, moving past 1,500 for his career in the process. Key had his first double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Buckeyes went 8 for 14 (57.1%) from 3 after going 11 for 44 (25.0%) in their first two games.
After a cold shooting start to the season, Gayle Jr. opened the game by sinking open 3-pointers from the same spot on Ohio State’s first two possessions against Merrimack’s zone. Gayle had missed his first seven 3-point attempts this season, but he quickly gave Ohio State a 6-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game.
"Big thanks to our coaching staff and my teammates for believing in me," Gayle said. "I know I went through a shooting slump a little bit. Their encouragement, tell me to keep shooting, it’s gonna fall. The 3s I hit early on opened it up for everyone else because they had to extend a little more which opened up more gaps and high-post touches."
It marked a hot start for both the sophomore and the Buckeyes, who scored on four of their first five possessions while carving up the Warriors’ zone. Gayle either scored or assisted on Ohio State’s first five field goals and the Buckeyes steadily built their lead into double digits for the first time this season. It reached a game-high 12 points when Devin Royal scored the first points of his career, finishing a layup on the left block with 8:21 left in the half to make it 23-11.
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The Buckeyes wouldn’t hit another field goal, however, until the final minute of the half. With Merrimack physically overmatched and quickly racking up the fouls, Ohio State would score its next 10 points from the line as seven of its next 11 possessions after the Royal bucket ended with free throws. The Buckeyes only hit four of their first eight attempts before sinking six straight, and that stretch allowed the Warriors to chip away.
A Gayle finish at the rim with 39 seconds left gave Ohio State a 35-27 lead, but it was sandwiched between Bryan Etumnu drives and finishes past first Zed Key and then Felix Okpara to set the halftime score at 35-29. The Buckeyes ended the half with 20 free throws to Merrimack’s three and drew 14 fouls while committing only three.
Buckeyes freshman Austin Parks made his debut after not playing in the first two games, and Kalen Etzler made his season debut as coach Chris Holtmann emptied his bench in the final minutes.
Ohio State is now 34-0 all-time against teams ranked 300 or lower in KenPom, which dates back to the 1998-99 season. Merrimack has one win against a high-major program since transitioning to Division I in 2019-20: a 71-61 win at Northwestern on Nov. 8, 2019, the second game of the season for the Warriors.
The announced crowd of 7,929 was the smallest for a regular-season game in Value City Arena history. The record low of 4,698 was set in an NIT game against Akron on March 16, 2016.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Roddy Gayle, Ohio State close strong in blowout against Merrimack
