Ohio State Cruises to a 91-53 victory over Robert Morris in a season-opening blowout at home

When Zed Key University’s first-ever 3-point attempt dropped just 55 seconds from the start of Monday’s season, it seemed a clear indication of the type of night in store for Robert Morris.

Crew	1	2	FINAL
OHIO STATE	42	49	91
ROBERT MORRIS	28	25	53

Ohio State faced some early resistance against its Horizon League foe, but shut the door on the Colonials in the second half to start the 2022-23 men’s basketball season with a blowout win at Schottenstein Center. . It was a 91-53 win for the Buckeyes by the time the final bell rang.

Returning to official game action for the first time since November 12, 2021, Judge Sueing started and showed off in scarlet and gray. The sixth-year forward had 12 points in the first half alone and led all Buckeyes with 20 points at the end of the game.

Key added 13 points and finished with 10 boards for a double-double as Ohio State parted ways with the Colonials late in the first half and continued to pull away from this moment.

With the victory, Chris Holtmann improved his record to 6-0 in the first games of the season as head coach of the Buckeye program and started his sixth year on a high note.

First half

Key’s game-opening hat-trick wasn’t the only hat-trick of the game for the third-year center. As Ohio State led the way early, Robert Morris fought back to take his first lead of the game, 15-13, with two straight threes at 11:40. But Key knocked down his second long halftime bomb just 30 seconds later, giving Ohio State a lead they wouldn’t waste after that.

Including that key three, the Buckeyes outscored the Colonials 29-13 in the final 11 minutes and changed and closed the half with a 6-0 run. Sean McNeil’s first field goal in a Buckeye uniform sent Ohio State 42-28 at halftime as Robert Morris’ early vigor evaporated late in the period.

The Colonials missed their last five shot attempts of the half and hit only one of their last 10. Robert Morris scored no baskets in the final 4:14 of the first half and shot just 32.1% from the floor and 13.3% from 3-for-half range in his outfit.

Meanwhile, Ohio State hit 51.6 percent of its shots and hit 53.8 percent of its 3-pointers before halftime. Key and Sueing combined to knock down four long-range shots between the two of them with just two misses.

The Buckeyes also outscored Robert Morris by seven and had eight more assists than the Colonials in the opening 20 minutes, which essentially decided the outcome of the game before intermission.

OHIO STATE	STAT	ROBERT MORRIS
91	POINTS	53
34-61 (55.7%)	FGM-FGA (PCT.)	20-63 (31.7%)
10-21 (47.6%)	3PM-3PA (pct.)	4-24 (16.7%)
13-21 (61.9%)	FTM-ALE (PCT.)	9-17 (52.9%)
14	SALES FIGURES	11
48	TOTAL BOUNDS	27
14	OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS	13
34	DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS	14
40	BENCH POINTS	14
5	BLOCKS	1
6	FLY	5
18	ASSISTANCE	6

Second part

Ohio State started the second half as warmly as it closed the first, hitting its first three shots en route to a 9-3 run that opened up a 20-point lead over Buckeye at 5:01 p.m. Key got six of those points on his own while McNeil contributed three more.

Sueing kept up his first-half momentum midway through the last frame, knocking back-to-back shots to give the Buckeyes a 27-point advantage after a steal and dunk with 8:44 left. That transition bucket was part of an 11-2 run for Ohio State, which refused to let Robert Morris make things interesting over time.

Just over a minute later, the Buckeyes increased their lead to 30 points as the Colonials couldn’t follow their counterpart in any phase.

Late in the game, Brice Sensabaugh (17 points) and Tanner Holden (12) joined Sueing and Key in double digit numbers off the bench as four Ohio State players scored at least 12 points on the night .

Game Notes

• After missing last week’s exhibition victory with a sprained ankle, Judge Sueing made his first appearance for Ohio State since Nov. 12, 2021.

• Sueing started alongside Bruce Thornton, Isaac Likekele, Sean McNeil and Zed Key for the Buckeyes.

• Eugene Brown was the only Buckeye listed as unavailable for the season opener as he continues to undergo concussion protocol.

• Ohio State last lost a season opener in 2003, when the Buckeyes started the season on the road in San Francisco.

• Robert Morris third-year guard Josh Corbin is from Gahanna, Ohio and played basketball at Gahanna Lincoln High School.

• Ohio State entered as a 20.5-point favorite over the Colonials.