Men’s Basketball Defeats Fribourg Olympic, 96-63 – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 29, 2001
GRINDELWALD, Switzerland-Brent Darby, a junior guard for the Ohio State men’s basketball team, scored 21 points to lead the Buckeyes to its third win, a 96-63 victory over Fribourg Olympic, during the team’s European tour.
Darby became the third different Buckeye guard to lead Ohio State in scoring on the trip.
Jim O’Brien, head coach of the Buckeyes, said it is a positive to have a different player set the tone offensively.
“I think this is a good sign,” O’Brien said. “It is nice to see someone different each night step up.”
Fribourg, a European A Division team, was without its four top players, all of which were competing for the Swiss National Team at the European Championships.
“We started the game a little sluggish,” O’Brien said. “We were obviously the better team tonight. It is unfortunate the teams we are playing are without some of their stars because of the European Championships.”
The game with Fribourg was much different than both the previous two contests played by the Buckeyes in Bormio, Italy, and Lugano, Switzerland. The Fribourg team was more guard oriented with less physical play.
Zach Williams, a sophomore forward, said the earlier games helped the Buckeye big men get off to good start against Fribourg.
“This team was a little younger,” Williams, who scored 15 points while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds, said. “The last couple games made this game seem easier. I just wanted to get on the court and play aggressively. When I do that, good things normally happen.”
O’Brien said Williams was the key to the Buckeye guards getting open shots with his play in the paint.
“Zach set the tone tonight,” O’Brien said. “His aggressiveness allowed the guards ample open shots.”
O’Brien said the games so far have tested the Buckeyes because so little is know about the teams Ohio State is playing.
“We have had to make various adjustments on the fly during games,” O’Brien said. “Our guys have done a good job picking things up on the spot. Our experience at the guard position has been a factor in our three wins.”
Darby, who played sparingly in the first game of the tour because of mild motion sickness, said he is feeling more comfortable with his play.
“I felt much better about my shot tonight,” Darby said. “Zach and Will Dudley did a great job of opening things up and setting screens to open the court.”
Seniors Brian Brown (14) and Boban Savovic (11) were the other OSU players in double figures offensively.
The Buckeyes connected on 37-of-79 shots from the field and 8-of-18 shots from 3-point range. Fribourg hit on 24-of-68 shots from the field and 3-of-13 3-point attempts.
Ohio State arrived back in Grindelwald just after 1 a.m. Thursday following the win over Fribourg. The team is scheduled to leave for Bern, Switzerland at 6:30 a.m. to catch a train to Paris. The Buckeyes are scheduled to play Friday and Saturday in Paris before moving on to Amsterdam for games Sunday and Monday.
The Buckeyes return to Columbus next Tuesday.
