This has not been a vintage year for Aaron Craft on offense.
But with his team trailing in the second half, Craft took over and gave seventh-ranked Ohio State a lift down the stretch.
Lenzelle Smith Jr. scored 20 points and Craft had all 10 of his points in a second-half surge to lead the Buckeyes past stubborn Wyoming 65-50 on Monday night.
“Aaron really kind of took things over there,” coach Thad Matta said. “We went to him down the stretch and he was as good as he could be.”
Craft, who came in shooting 35 percent from the field without a 3-pointer this season, was scoreless and having a forgettable offensive game until he began driving and scored 10 of the Buckeyes’ 13 points during a 13-4 run that turned the tide.
“We came into the first TV timeout and just looked at each other and said, `Hey, they’re a great team. That was their run and now we’ve got to respond,”‘ Craft said. “It really just kind of stemmed from our defense. We started guarding the ball a little better, getting stops, getting rebounds. Anytime we can do that, we usually get easy layups.”
Amir Williams added 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds – six more than his previous best – for Ohio State (5-0).
Wyoming (4-2), down as many as 10 points in the first half and by four at the break, went on a 9-0 run to build a 43-39 lead with just over 14 minutes left.
Riley Grabau hit a pull-up 3-pointer on the break, Josh Adams added a three-point play on a dribble drive and then Larry Nance Jr. – son of the former Cleveland Cavaliers star – had a free lane for a rebound dunk. Matta called a timeout to try to get his team back in sync.
Whatever he said worked.
The Buckeyes stormed back, scoring the next six points to take a 45-43 lead on Craft’s second consecutive driving layup in traffic.
On the inbounds pass, Ohio State’s Shannon Scott got tangled with a Cowboy and appeared to shove him away with his forearm, resulting in a technical foul. Grabau hit both technical shots to tie it.
But Smith hit a 3 from the left corner to give the Buckeyes the lead to stay.
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