On a Tuesday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball did exactly what a high-major program is supposed to do against a mid-major opponent before conference play: gather itself, flip the switch, and turn the game into a non-negotiable blowout. Behind a flamethrower second half from John Mobley Jr. and a steady, grown-man performance from Bruce Thornton, Ohio State rolled past Grambling State Tigers men's basketball 89–63 at the Schottenstein Center.
It wasn’t a wire-to-wire evisceration. It was something more telling — patience, balance, and then total control.
Ohio State came out crisp, organized, and clearly superior — but not yet ruthless. The Buckeyes opened the game with a 10–0 run, featuring contributions from all five starters, like they were checking boxes on a scouting report. Grambling State responded with a quick 7–0 spurt of its own, briefly reminding the crowd that this wasn’t going to be a 20-minute scrimmage.
For most of the first half, the Tigers hung around by surviving on effort and free throws while Ohio State quietly dominated the paint. The Buckeyes were nearly perfect inside the arc early, but the three-ball hadn’t arrived yet. That kept the game from spiraling too quickly.
Then, in the final four minutes before halftime, Ohio State leaned on what it does best: execution. A 16–6 closing run turned a competitive game into a 39–24 halftime cushion, fueled by ball movement, paint touches, and Grambling turnovers turning into Buckeye points. It wasn’t flashy — it was surgical.
And that was only step one.
If the first half was Ohio State asserting control, the second half was John Mobley Jr. turning the thermostat to “volcanic.”
Grambling briefly made things interesting early in the second half, trimming the deficit to 12 with just over 12 minutes to play. That was the window. That was the chance.
Mobley slammed it shut.
The sophomore guard buried back-to-back threes — no hesitation, no mercy — and suddenly the gym felt like a practice run. Mobley finished with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, knocking down five triples and scoring 15 of his points after halftime, when the game was still theoretically alive.
These weren’t bailout shots or late-clock heaves. These were momentum killers — the kind that make an opposing bench stare at the floor while the home crowd starts thinking about what this team might look like in January.
Mobley’s shooting didn’t just stretch the floor. It detonated it.
While Mobley played arsonist, Bruce Thornton played conductor.
Thornton’s 18 points came in the calm, efficient way Ohio State fans have come to expect. He shot 6-of-10 from the field, lived at the free-throw line (6-of-7), and consistently steadied the offense when Grambling tried to speed things up. No wasted dribbles. No rushed decisions. Just grown-up basketball.
This is what makes Ohio State dangerous heading into Big Ten play: Thornton doesn’t need to dominate the ball to dominate the game. He controls pace, picks his spots, and lets chaos happen around him without ever looking rushed.
That matters when the schedule gets unforgiving.
The most telling stat of the night? All five Ohio State starters finished in double figures — for the second consecutive game.
Ohio State shot 62% from the field, assisted on 19 of 31 made baskets, and outscored Grambling 42–20 in the paint. That’s not a hot shooting night — that’s a structural advantage.
Freshman Amare Bynum continues to look like a problem in the best way possible. His energy, rebounding, and ability to finish in transition added an edge that turned good possessions into demoralizing ones. When he finished a fastbreak and-one midway through the second half, it felt less like a highlight and more like punctuation.
Ohio State also feasted on mistakes, turning 15 Grambling turnovers into 29 points. That’s the difference between a respectable loss and a second-half avalanche.
To Grambling’s credit, the Tigers never stopped competing. Antonio Munoz led all scorers for Grambling with 19 points, getting to the line repeatedly and forcing Ohio State to stay honest defensively. Derrius Ward and Jimel Lane added double figures, but the Tigers simply couldn’t generate consistent offense against Ohio State’s size and discipline.
Grambling shot under 40% from the field and struggled mightily from deep. Against a team that punishes missed shots with immediate transition offense, that’s a death sentence.
The game officially ended the moment Mobley hit those back-to-back threes.
Everything after that — the ballooning lead, the emptied bench, the late-game jog-throughs — was just confirmation. Ohio State didn’t just win this game. It asserted hierarchy.
Ohio State improves to 9–3, 7–1 at home, and heads into Big Ten play with momentum and clarity. The Buckeyes are now 6–0 when scoring at least 80 points, and the offense is beginning to look less like a collection of options and more like a system with answers.
Next up is a road test against Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball — a program that thrives on dragging games into the mud. If Ohio State can bring this level of balance and shot-making into that environment, it won’t just survive Big Ten play. It’ll matter.
This wasn’t a game Ohio State needed to win. It was a game Ohio State needed to look right in.
And it did.
The Buckeyes flipped the switch, trusted their depth, and let Mobley Jr. put on a second-half shooting clinic that felt like a warning shot. Conference play is coming. The training wheels are off.
And Ohio State looks ready to pedal downhill.
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