Ohio State basketball moves to 1-1 after an 89-65 win over Youngstown State in its home opener, led by 25 points from John Mobley Jr.

Following a tough loss in Utah against a ranked BYU squad, the Buckeyes look to get back on track against Youngstown State in their home opener.

“We showed improvement in coming out and sustaining a defensive effort in the second half, which obviously was a point of emphasis for us,” Diebler said postgame. “We continued to do a good job on the glass. We’ve got to continue to do that.”

John Mobley Jr. opened the scoring with an ankle-busting step-back jumper on the opening possession. Adjrija Jelavic got in on the action early with a two-hand slam and a putback, giving the Buckeyes early offensive momentum. The Penguins came out swinging, though, and by the 15:17 mark they led 10-8 after a made triple from Swedish junior Linus Holmstrom.

YSU took another lead after a media timeout, making it 16-15 at the 11:14 mark. However, the Buckeyes would immediately seize momentum with dunks from Anthony Thompson and John Mobley on successive possessions. With this, Thompson gets his first points of the 2026 season and a weight off his shoulders after a rough showing against BYU. The game became a back-and-forth affair for much of the half, with six lead changes and three ties.

The Penguins took their first timeout at the 7:52 mark of the first half following baskets from Adria Jelavic on back-to-back possessions. Jelavic was OSU’s leading scorer (8) at this point and the main reason the Buckeyes held a 16-6 advantage in the paint. YSU hung around, though, as Ohio State was 0-for-6 from beyond the arc and trailed 30-28 at 3:56 following a Jermaine Coleman three-pointer.

Sloppy play kept the Penguins in the contest. Eventually, Justin Pippen made OSU’s first three-pointer of the game with 1:36 remaining in the first half to take a 36-31 lead. Ohio State took the lead into the locker room with a 38-33 lead, after going 1-for-9 from the three-point line and committing 9 turnovers. John Mobley Jr. led OSU and the game with 10 points at half, along with going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.

Youngstown State stormed out in the second half to take a 40-38 lead in under three minutes. Three-point shooting continued to be an issue for OSU, as they couldn’t get a triple to fall until the 9:56 mark, when Buckeye big man Andrija Jelavic drilled a triple to put Ohio State up 58-52 and bring his point total to 13, surpassing his career high of 11. OSU was 2-15 from three at this point, while the Penguins had taken 25 threes and made 8.

“I thought Justin Pippen completely flipped the script, first half to second half,” Diebler said. That was really good.”

At the 10:20 mark, Ohio State went on a 12-0 run that fans at the Schottenstein Center had been waiting for. The run swelled the Buckeyes’ lead to 66-52 with just under 8 minutes to go, and they wouldn’t look back. OSU dominated in the paint with a 46-26 advantage, which more than compensated for the woes from beyond the arc. Rebounding took a step as well, as Ohio State dominated the Penguins on the glass, 46 to 27.

In the Big Ten, this is a welcome sign if OSU can keep progressing off the boards. With just three turnovers, the play was much cleaner, which helped fuel a dominant second half all around. Depth showed up again, with eleven different Buckeyes scoring in the contest, including a breakout game from Jelavic, who finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds. John Mobley Jr. continued to flex his offensive prowess with 25 points, 77 percent from the field, and went perfect from the line.

“There’s a lot of little things, little wins in there for us, which are really important this time of year, because we’ve got to continue to grow and get better,” Diebler said.

Overall, Ohio State took some much-needed steps both on the glass and in efficiency. Three-point shooting will need to be shored up, but if history tells us anything, this team should be able to rebound there. The Buckeyes will be back in the Schottenstein Center on Monday against Marshall at 6:00, looking to get over .500.