Cincinnati defeated Ohio State in the CareSource Invitational, 79-68, in an outdoor exhibition that Jake Diebler called their “11th practice.”

The Buckeyes took part in a first-of-its-kind exhibition at the Linder Family Tennis Center this afternoon. The October weather was ideal: 76 degrees and sunny for the 3:00 PM matchup against the Bearcats.

Amare Bynum, Anthony Thompson, Ivan Njgovan, Curtis Givens, and John Mobley Jr. started for the Buckeyes. In the postgame, Jake Diebler said not to put a penny’s worth of stock in the starting lineup and rotations. That quickly became moot, though, as the Bearcats struck first and jumped to a 5-0 lead. Curtis Givens would score first for OSU with a transition layup at the 17:19 mark.

The Buckeyes quickly found their footing as John Mobley Jr. sank both free throws after going down hard, cutting the deficit to one. After both teams traded scores, transfer Guard Justin Pippen pulled up from three and sank a game-tying basket, making it 7-7 at the 15:04 mark.

UC found itself in foul trouble with 5 fouls by the 13:58 mark of the first half. However, after Andrija Jelavic missed the front end of his free throws, UC would capitalize on the other end with a layup to reclaim a 9-7 lead. Much of the half became a back-and-forth affair with some bright spots from OSU’s guards. John Mobley. Jr. was business as usual for the most part, ending the half as OSU’s leading scorer (10) and with a pair of assists.

Curtis Givens was also efficient, sinking a layup while going 3/4 from the line. Lastly, freshman guard LJ Smith made a handful of plays, including baskets on back-to-back possessions to put OSU up 13-9 inside of 12 minutes. He and Givens both finished the half with 5 points.

With 7 fouls at the 11:10 mark, UC continued to flirt with foul trouble. Although OSU shot 60% from the line, the Bearcats finished the half at just 42.9%, and OSU took full advantage by holding a lead throughout the first half. By the end of the half, Ohio State led 35-30 and held a 48% to 35.5% advantage in field goal percentage.

After a pair of sloppy turnovers to start the second half, OSU picked up where they left off in the first half. After successive layups from Jimmie Williams and Justin Pippen, the Buckeyes led 46-38 with just over 17 minutes to go. LJ Smith showed more aggression than in the first half, finishing with 9 points for the freshmen. LJ also had his fair share of learning experiences and struggled with 3 turnovers in the second half.

Turnovers became an unfortunate theme for the Buckeyes down the stretch. By 6:14, OSU saw what was an 8-point second-half lead disappear as UC tied the game at 56 after back-to-back turnovers by OSU. From there, OSU regained the lead, but free-throw shooting became a major issue, finishing the second half at 52.4 percent from the stripe.

UC saw a 30% increase in free-throw shooting, which gave them a big advantage down the stretch. This was combined with some key misses by Ohio State from behind the arc. After falling behind by 9, the Buckeyes cut the lead to 5 within 2 minutes. However, UC once again converted on free throws on the next possession, and from there the Bearcats closed it out. Ohio State would fall short, 79-68.

Jake Diebler was very open that this was a learning experience for his team and took the shooting woes with a grain of salt between the sun and unique conditions. This gives Coach Diebler another important data point to improve on the few issues he sees as pertinent, but overall it was positive to see minutes from a team with so much depth and potential.

Here are the final stats from the contest between the Buckeyes and Bearcats courtesy of Stat Broadcast: