COLUMBUS, Ohio – There were some encouraging things that occurred during North Carolina A&T's 97-55 loss to No. 12 Ohio State Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena. There were also disturbing occurrences they hope to have fixed as conference play approaches.
The Aggies (1-11) got a career-high 26 points from Bruce Beckford on 11-for-20 shooting from the floor and 4-for-8 shooting from 3-point range. He also added seven rebounds. Freshman point guard Austin Williams recorded a season-high 10 assists, marking the first time since 2001 an A&T player has secured 10 or more assists. Denzel Keyes, who last month was catching passes as a receiver on the Aggies football team, came off the bench to score nine points.
Three of his field goals came off alley-oop dunks. Perimeter shooter Arturs Bremers knocked down four 3-pointers.
“We got beat by one of the best teams in America tonight,” said A&T head coach Cy Alexander. “But we were still within striking distance in the first half even though we made some plays that weren't very smart. They turned it up and took it to a Big Ten, Top-5 level of play and weren't able to stay with them in the second half.”
The Buckeyes (9-1) jumped out to a 17-2 lead as they hit their first five shots, including their first 3-point attempts. A&T's offense became effective thanks to the play of Beckford and Bremers. Beckford's 3-pointer in transition cut the Buckeyes lead to 21-9. Keyes followed by catching a lob pass from Williams to cut the lead to 10. After two free throws from Trey McDonald, Bremers cut the Buckeyes lead to nine, 23-14, with a 3-pointer.
Even after the Buckeyes scored the next three points, A&T had a chance to get the lead under 10 again. Redshirt freshman James Whitaker could not hit the 3-pointer in transition and Jae'Sean Tate scored a 3-pointer on the other end to give OSU a 29-14 lead with 7:54 to play in the first half.
A&T trailed 39-26 at halftime but were never able to get the lead under 10 for the remainder of the game.
“I thought our young men came and were intimidated early on,” said Alexander. “Once they realized it was just a game, we competed hard all game, especially in the first half. We should have been down eight or nine points at halftime but we made some ill-advised plays and decisions in transition.They took advantage of our turnovers. You can't give a team like this that many easy opportunities.”
OSU scored 40 points off 26 A&T turnovers. Six of those turnovers came from Williams.
“Our freshman point guard is still learning how to play, and he is learning what college basketball is all about,” said Alexander. “I think in the long run playing against this level of competition is going to make him better two or three years down the road. But 40 points off turnovers is unacceptable for us.”
Freshman D'Angelo Russell led the Buckeyes with 21 points. Point guard Scott Shannon had eight points and 12 assists, seven steals and just one turnover. Marc Loving added 15 points.
The Aggies continue their swing through Ohio when they play Kent State Friday night at 7.
