John Mobley Jr. scored a career-high 26 points as Ohio State routed Mount St. Mary’ s 113-60 on Tuesday in Columbus.
Mobley made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts and surpassed his previous best of 23 against Campbell on Nov. 22, 2024, with a 3-pointer with six minutes left in regulation for the Buckeyes (6-0).
Devin Royal scored 17 points, Ivan Njegovan 15 and Bruce Thornton 14 in the win.
Ohio State had its second-highest total this season behind a 118-102 victory over Indiana University Indianapolis in the season opener.
Luke McEldon had 19 and Arlandus Keyes 13 for the Mountaineers (1-6).
The Buckeyes have played all six games at home with just one Power 5 opponent, a 64-63 win against Notre Dame.
It gets harder from here with five straight Power 5 schools starting Friday at Pittsburgh before Big Ten games at Northwestern and home for Illinois.
Mount St. Mary’s simply couldn’t shoot from distance in the first half, making a poor 4 of 18 from beyond the arc (22.2%). Contrast that to Ohio State’s 7 of 16 (43.9%) from distance in the first half, and it was easy to see why the Buckeyes had plenty of breathing room.
For the Mountaineers, it was a second tough outing after playing a pair of high majors. They gave Cincinnati all it could handle for 30 minutes before succumbing 72-55 on Nov. 16.
Three days later, the Mountaineers led host Maryland by five points with 30 seconds left but lost 95-90 in overtime. But all the good vibes were washed away in an 83-60 setback at Western Michigan on Sunday.
While Mount St. Mary’s was going have a tough task beating the Buckeyes, it was a disappointing start because the Buckeyes were only briefly threatened.
Ohio State led 10-8 in the first five minutes before Mobley helped accelerate the lead to 24-13 by hitting two jumpers.
The Buckeyes eventually expanded the margin to 29-15, but Keyes pulled the Mountaineers within eight, 31-23 on a jumper with 7:37 left in the first half.
That’s when the Buckeyes went on a 21-3 blitz to end the half with a 52-26 advantage.
