John Mobley Jr. scores 19 points, Jimmie Williams adds 16 and Ohio State holds off Marshall 84-74

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — John Mobley Jr. scored 19 points and Jimmie Williams had 16 off the bench as Ohio State held off Marshall 84-74 on Monday.

Andrija Jelavic and Anthony Thompson each added 11 points, and Amare Bynum scored 10 for Ohio State (2-1), which was coming off an 89-65 victory over Youngstown State on Friday night.

Noah Otshudi scored 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting, and Bryce Slay added 15 for Marshall (1-2), which opened the year with a solid 92-65 over Buffalo on Monday but then fell to Toledo 81-76 on Saturday.

The Buckeyes improved to 13-3 against the Sun Belt and have not lost to a team from that conference since 1998.

Williams scored five points during a 12-0 run that put Ohio State ahead 22-9 and the Buckeyes led by double figures the rest of the half. Williams had 12 points at the break and Thompson added 10 to help Ohio State build a 45-27 lead.

Ohio State led by as many as 19 points in the second half before Marshall scored 14 straight to make it interesting.

Slay made two free throws with two minutes left to pull Marshall within 77-70. But the Thundering Herd came up empty on their next three possessions and Ohio State scored four straight for an 81-70 lead.

Up next

Marshall: Plays at Youngstown State on Saturday.

Ohio State: Plays at No. 4 UConn on Friday.

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