Ohio State enters its game at Washington on Sunday with new-found confidence that the Buckeyes can rely on more than standout guard Bruce Thornton to win a game.
Averaging 20 points per game, he is coming off a relatively quiet outing with 12 points in the 72-62 win at Oregon on Thursday, giving the Buckeyes (11-4, 3-2 Big Ten) wins in their first three conference road games for the first time since 2017-18.
It was balanced scoring that did the trick against the Ducks, and Ohio State coach Jake Diebler is looking for the same against the Huskies (9-6, 1-3).
Five players scored in double figures, led by Devin Royal and Christoph Tilly with 14 each.
More importantly, Indiana transfer Gabe Cupps came off the bench to score nine points and grab four rebounds in 23 minutes.
The bench twice this season did not score and Cupps’ contribution was even more important because the Buckeyes were playing their first game without backup power forward Brandon Noel, who is out indefinitely with a foot injury.
“We’ve obviously been searching for help from the bench,” Diebler said. “I thought Gabe was aggressive. That’s the stuff we’ve been talking about. We’ve had so many games where we sub guys in and we’re playing a combined 20 or 25 minutes with no field goal attempts.
“Here, every single guy that checked in showed some aggressiveness. I think that’s really important.”
The Huskies, coming off road losses at Indiana and Purdue, will try to get East Tennessee State transfer Quimari Peterson more involved in the offense. The 2024-25 Southern Conference Player of the Year when he averaged 19.5 points and 4.5 rebounds, he’s fifth in scoring (10.1) and fourth in made shots (52) for the Huskies.
“I’ll tell you he’s a kid every coach wants on their team,” Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said. “He never pouts. He doesn’t care about shots. This is a player of the year in his conference.
“He was one of the most highly recruited guards in the country and he’s never said a thing about getting shots. He’s like, ‘Coach, what do you need me to do?’ “
Hannes Steinbach continues to excel for the Huskies with averages of 18.2 points and 11.2 rebounds. He recently had three straight 20-point efforts and has six on the season.
