By the numbers: Ohio State breaks out the Jim Jackson jerseys, beats UCLA 86-74

Sitting on the edge of the NCAA Tournament field with an 11-5 record as of Saturday morning, Ohio State (12-5, 4-3) welcomed in the UCLA Bruins (12-6, 4-3), coached by the always cheery Mick Cronin. It was a potential resume-building win for both teams — for Ohio State it was a Quad-2 opportunity playing at home, and for UCLA it was a Quad-1 opportunity.

Decked out in 90’s-eseque scarlet jerseys with block white letters on the front, Ohio State jumped out to an early 7-2 lead three minutes into the game. The Buckeyes were moving the ball well, making the extra pass on the perimeter, and were hitting shots early. They switched between a zone and man-to-man defensively, keeping UCLA guessing, and forcing the Bruins to take tough, contested two-pointers. At times Ohio State full-court pressed the Bruins bringing the ball up, and at other times backed off to keep them guessing.

Over a stretch of just over three minutes, Devin Royal scored 10 of Ohio State’s 13 points, pushing the Buckeyes’ lead to 26-17 with 9:08 remaining in the first half. But Donovan Dent, who entered Saturday’s game shooting 9% from three, hit his second of the game. After a John Mobley Jr. miss, Tyler Bilodeau knocked down his second made three of the game to get it back to 26-23 Ohio State with just over seven minutes left in the first half.

The Bruins got within one point multiple times during the first half, but never tied it. Ohio State held firm and closed the first half by scoring on each of their last four possessions, and a Mobley three-pointer at the halftime buzzer put the Buckeyes up 42-36 at the break. Mobley led all scorers with 18 points in the first half, on 5-of-9 shooting. Bilodeau had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

The Buckeyes opened the second half on an 8-0 run to push their lead to 50-36, getting triples from Mobley and Royal early in the half. Royal’s came on a really high-effort play from his teammates — Mobley missed a three, but Bynum was able to corral the offensive rebound, pass to Tilly in the corner, who then kicked it to Royal up top for three. Credit Tilly with the assist, and Bynum with the hockey assist. After Tilly scored to make it 50-36 with 17:22 left in the game, Mick Cronin called timeout.

Ohio State had a huge possession five minutes later that felt like it was an emotional turning point in the game. Up 62-45 with 12:36 remaining, Steveen Jamerson blocked Bynum’s dunk, but Gabe Cupps was able to run down the offensive rebound and kick it back out to Bynum, who missed a three-pointer. The rebound went long, and Mobley chased it down among a crowd of Bruins, grabbed it, and passed to Tilly below the basket. The big man went up and was fouled by Jamerson. Diebler got about as fired up as he’s ever been on the sideline, pumping his fist and screaming as the entire team ran up to Tilly to lift him up. The crowd got into it, and Tilly split the free throws to put the Buckeyes up 63-45.

The Buckeyes had several chances to really blow the game open, leading by 19 at one point, but never got it to 20. They lived at the free throw line in the second half, going 16-for-20 from the stripe, and were able to close out UCLA at home, 86-74.

Here are a few key stats, figures, and numbers to know from Ohio State’s 86-74 victory:

18 – Mobley points in the first half

John Mobley Jr. apparently wasn’t deterred by a tough game against Washington last weekend, nor was his coach. After Jake Diebler mostly shook off Mobley’s struggles against the Huskies, the sophomore guard came out on Saturday afternoon and scored 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the first half Saturday, including four three-pointers. His fourth three was on Ohio State’s final possession of the half, where he received the inbounds pass, sprinted up the floor, and took advantage of a defensive breakdown by the Bruins to launch a deep, straightaway three that dropped in, giving Ohio State a 42-36 halftime lead.

9 – Points scored on Ohio State’s final four possessions of the first half

The Buckeyes capped off the first half by scoring on each of their final four possessions. With 1:41 remaining in the half, Mobley hit a long two-point jumper from just inside the three point line to make it 35-32 Buckeyes. On the next possession, Thornton got into the paint and hit a fading mid-range jumper, putting Ohio State up 37-32. On the next Ohio State possession, Mobley was fouled driving to the basket and hit both free throws. On the final possession of the first half, Mobley took the ball up the floor with seven seconds remaining and launched a straightaway three-pointer that made it 42-36 at the break.

2 – Donovan Dent threes in the first half

Bruins’ guard Donovan Dent entered Saturday’s game 2-for-22 from three this season, good for a 9.1% three-point percentage. He was 2-for-3 from long range in the first half of Saturday’s game, which doubled his total on the season from two to four. The second three-pointer came with 8:53 left in the first half, cutting Ohio State’s lead to 26-20.

12 – Straight points for Ohio State to open the second half

Ohio State opened the second half with three-pointers from Mobley and Royal, a layup from Tilly, and two free throws apiece from Royal and Thornton to cap off a 12-0 run to start the second half, pushing the Buckeyes’ lead to 54-36 with 16:35 remaining in the game.

69 – Ohio Sate wins the race

After Bynum blocked UCLA’s Eric Freeny with Ohio State up 67-51, Thornton grabbed the rebound but was fouled by Bilodeau. He went to the line, hit both, and put the Buckeyes up 69-51. More importantly, it won the race to 69.

3 – A’mare Bynum blocks

Ohio State’s freshman forward blocked seven shots in the first 12 games of the season, but in the last three games, Bynum blocked seven shots alone. He came out on Saturday and blocked three more shots, including a two-handed volleyball spike block on Trent Perry with 12:38 remaining in the game. Bynum now leads Ohio State in blocks this season with 17.

28 – Points for Mobley, which was a career-high

John Mobley Jr. finished the game with 28 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including going 6-of-12 from three-point range. He also had three assists, two offensive rebounds, and did not turn the ball over.