Ohio State men's basketball blown out by No. 2 Auburn in Atlanta
For the second time in the last three games, Ohio State was blown out in embarrassing fashion. This time, the runaway came from the No. 2 team in the country.
Just 10 days after being beaten horribly by Maryland to open Big Ten play, the Buckeyes returned to nonconference action in State Farm Arena down in Atlanta. And they were destroyed by No. 2 Auburn.
Final score: Auburn 91, Ohio State 53.
Yes, 10 days ago, the Buckeyes were down 33 at the half and eventually lost by 24. This time, they trailed the Tigers by 28 at the break and lost by 36.
In between the two terrible blowout losses was a win over a decent Rutgers team, giving Ohio State a split of its early-season Big Ten games. But this loss to Auburn is yet another sign that the first year of the Jake Diebler era might not go well as competition stiffens.
For what it’s worth, second-year forward Devin Royal led the Buckeyes with 14 points. Micah Parrish added 10. Ohio State was outrebounded by an astounding 49-28 margin.
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Ohio State is off for a few days before its next game against Valparaiso, Diebler’s alma mater. That game will take place Tuesday night in the Schottenstein Center before the Buckeyes go back on the road to face yet another top-5 opponent from the SEC next weekend: No. 5 Kentucky. There’s not much reason to believe it will look different than the loss to Auburn in Atlanta did.
The rest of the December slate is as follows:
Dec. 17 vs. Valparaiso
Dec. 21 vs. Kentucky (Madison Square Garden, New York, New York)
Dec. 29 vs. Indiana State
Valparaiso and Indiana State look like winnable games that will give Ohio State something positive to latch onto ahead of the new year. But with another top-five opponent on the way in New York City next weekend, it’s hard to see the Buckeyes giving Kentucky a good matchup.
Auburn certainly didn’t have any issues with Ohio State on Saturday afternoon. It was the ugliest loss yet for first-year coach Jake Diebler and his edition of the Buckeyes.
