Devin Royal leads Ohio State in scoring, makes critical late-game play at Michigan State
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Devin Royal was running out of time.
In a sense, everyone on the court at the Breslin Center was. The scoreboard showed 6.4 ticks left and a battle between Ohio State and Michigan State knotted at 57 when the freshman collected the ball after Tyson Walker’s tying free throw. Out of timeouts, the Buckeyes would have to go the length of the court against a set Spartans defense determined to avoid the upset.
Royal finished the afternoon with a team- and career-high 14 points, but it was his read on this play that drew the most praise from interim coach Jake Diebler following Sunday’s 60-57 win against the Spartans.
“The biggest play of the game for him was the poise he showed taking the ball out of bounds,” Diebler said. “In this setting, for a freshman to do that. Proud of Devin. I think he’s got just a really, really bright future. We have no reason not to believe that he’s going to continue to do some really good things this year for us.”
Ohio State had a play drawn up for when Royal took the ball out of bounds, Diebler said. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo took it away, though, and Royal had to wait for sophomore guard Bruce Thornton to make a second cut before finding him with a pass in traffic.
Ball in hand, Thornton turned the corner pushed it up the left sideline and advanced the ball to Dale Bonner, whose leaning 3-point attempt over Tyson Walker’s outstretched arms swished through the net with 0.2 seconds left to seal Ohio State’s first win at the Breslin Center in 12 years.
Royal’s impact on the play isn’t in the box score or anywhere on the official play-by-play, but after a year of occasional sparks of production this was his most pronounced performance.
“Devin Royal, who hasn’t been playing much, really hurt us,” Izzo said. “If you look at their stats aside from Royal, they’re not very good.”
Royal finished with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The Pickerington Central grad added two steals and two rebounds in a career-high 17:54 off the bench. His opportunity for minutes rose when Jamison Battle had to sit out with an ankle injury, but Diebler said Monday that against the Spartans Royal was in line for more minutes than usual based on his style of play and the matchups Michigan State presented.
He took advantage of the playing time against a team that recruited him heavily.
“I felt like we just needed some type of spark, a little energy,” Royal said. “I just wanted to go out there and give all the energy I had to where I was tired and needed to come out. Just give all my energy and that’s it.”
Ohio State Buckeyes: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy
Royal’s only other double-digit scoring game was an 11-point effort against Central Michigan on Nov. 29. He was averaging 3.3 points per game leading into Sunday’s game and had totaled 12 points in his three previous games.
Throughout the season, coach Chris Holtmann professed the belief that better basketball would come in time for Royal as he developed in a manner similar to E.J. Liddell as a freshman.
Liddell averaged 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds while averaging 16.6 minutes per game during the 2019-20 season. In Big Ten play, Royal is at 4.7, 1.6 and 9.5, respectively, as Diebler is starting to see Royal’s development turn into in-game production.
“He didn’t miss many shots, but he stayed in the moment,” he said. “He stayed aggressive. He got the one shot blocked and he stayed aggressive after that. He’s always been productive. He has worked hard. He’s studied the game more. He has continued to build and build and we’re seeing the fruits of that labor pay off. I’m so happy for him.”
Get more Ohio State basketball news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: At Michigan State, Devin Royal has all-around impact for Ohio State
