After not being able to take the court on Friday aboard the USS Yorktown, Thad Matta’s Ohio State Buckeyes finally opened their 2012-13 season on Sunday afternoon with an impressive 82-60 win over the Albany Great Danes.
No. 4 Ohio State vs. Albany final score: Buckeyes cruise to 82-60 victory in opener
Aaron Craft and the Ohio State Buckeyes kicked off their 2012-13 campaign with a victory on Sunday afternoon.
Greg Bartram-US PRESSWIRE
Following an extremely tight opening 15 minutes, the Buckeyes closed the first half with a devastating 17-2 run that gave them a comfortable 14-point advantage going into the locker room. Completely unable to contain Ohio State's duo of Wooden Award Watch List candidates in Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas, the Great Danes then quickly fell down by 20 points just minutes into the second half and were never again in contention.
Craft, widely considered one of the best perimeter defenders in the country, led all Buckeyes players with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. The junior point guard also chipped in seven assists and nailed five of his seven three-point attempts, in a game where he also committed just one turnover in 31 minutes of action.
Not to be outdone, the 6’7, 215-pound Thomas used his elite athleticism to rack up 19 points from a variety of places on the floor against Albany’s undersized forwards. Though he shot less than 50 percent from the field after posting a stellar 52.0 percent mark last year, Thomas drained a career-high four shots from behind the three-point line and looks to be poised for an All-Big Ten type of season.
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