Buckeyes Break Down Bulldogs, 65-45 – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/17/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2000
Box Score| Quotes| Notes
By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Sean Connolly scored eight of his 18 points in a 19-7 run to start the second half as Ohio State beat Yale 65-45 Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
The Buckeyes, who shared last year’s Big Ten title with national champion Michigan State, ran their record in home openers to 85-17.
Connolly was making his first appearance for Ohio State. He sat out last year after transferring from Providence, where he hit 64 3-pointers while starting every game as a freshman two seasons ago.
Connolly hit 7-of-11 shots from the field including 4-of-7 3-pointers. He also added six rebounds.
Brian Brown, returning for his third year as a starter, was the only other Buckeyes player in double figures with 16 points. Center Ken Johnson, who led the nation in blocked shots a year ago, had seven points, five rebounds and five blocks.
Chris Leanza led Yale with 10 points.
Ohio State must replace the 46 points a game supplied a year ago by Scoonie Penn, George Reese and Michael Redd. Penn and Reese graduated and are now playing professionally overseas, while Redd departed a year early and was drafted in the second round by the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.
At times the Buckeyes looked as if they missed their big three from a year ago, piling up more turnovers (13) than field goals (10) while taking a 28-18 halftime lead.
Connolly hit a pair of 3-pointers and also banged in a 10-foot runner as Ohio State pulled away at the outset of the second half. Boban Savovic added a 3-pointer as the Buckeyes built a 47-25 lead.
Yale countered by scoring 10 of the next 12 points, but on successive trips down the floor Brown hit a 3-pointer, Connolly made another 3 and Brown added a three-point play to push the lead back to 58-37.
The Bulldogs never got closer than 19 points again.
Ohio State started slowly before flexing its muscle.
With the score tied at 4, Ohio State ran off the next nine points while keeping the Bulldogs scoreless for more than six minutes.
Brown followed a Savovic miss and later added a layup in the spurt, while Brent Darby chipped in with a 3-pointer and Connolly scored inside off a Savovic steal and assist.
Yale got as close as 22-15 with a 6-2 run, but a three-point play by Johnson and Connolly’s 3-pointer spurred the Buckeyes’ halftime lead.
