John Mobley Jr. scored 19 points to lead five Ohio State players in double figures as the Buckeyes held off Marshall 84-74 on Monday in Columbus.
Marshall (1-2) chipped away at an 18-point deficit in the second half to trail 68-62, but Curtis Givens III drilled a 3-pointer and Jimmie Williams followed with a fastbreak dunk to make it 73-62.
Marshall pulled within seven points with two minutes remaining before Justin Pippen’s jumper extended Ohio State’s lead to 79-70.
Williams scored 16, Andrija Jelavic and Anthony Thompson each had 11 and Amare Bynum 10 for the Buckeyes (2-1).
Noah Otshudi had 27 points and Bryce Slay 15 for Marshall.
The Buckeyes had a huge advantage from the free-throw line, making 25 of 35 while Marshall was 11 of 15.
Ohio State led 45-27 at halftime, thanks in part to a significant advantage at the free-throw line. Marshall responded with a 16-3 run to open the second half, with Otshudi scoring 10 to pull within 48-43 with about 15 minutes remaining.
Bynum ended Marshall’s 14-point run by scoring five consecutive points, and Williams added a jumper to complete a 7-0 spurt that pushed Ohio State’s lead to 55-43.
Marshall took an early blow when leading scorer Bryce Slay went to the bench with his second foul less than four minutes into the game and Ohio State ahead 10-6. Slay entered averaging 21.0 points after scoring 19 in the opener against Buffalo and a career-high 23 against Toledo.
He returned four minutes later trailing 22-9 after the Buckeyes reeled off 12 straight points.
Williams’ scoring was a bonus for the Buckeyes. The Solon, Ohio, native returned to his home state after stops at Wallace State Community College in Alabama, South Florida and Duquesne.
He entered the game with eight points in 33 minutes over the first two games, but made two free throws to reach nine points with 4:46 left in the first half. He had 12 points in 10 minutes by halftime.