#13 Ohio State used a barrage of 3s, most of them from Jon Diebler, to take an early 21-10 lead before finishing off Big Ten rival Illinois 72-53 Sunday afternoon in Champaign, Illinois.

Illinois' Mike Tisdale (54) is guarded by Ohio State's Dallas Lauderdale (52) during their NCAA college basketball game at the Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill., on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Robin Scholz)

The Buckeyes were 11 of 22 from 3-point range, including a 6-for-11 performance from Diebler, who led Ohio State with 18 points. Lighty hit a trio of 3-pointers and scored 17.

“We took great shots and, the important part, we made shots,” said Ohio State’s Evan Turner, who was just shy of a triple-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

The Buckeyes (20-6, 10-3) held onto a piece of first place in the Big Ten, along with Michigan State. They’ve won nine in a row in the conference and six straight overall. More importantly, the Buckeyes are 10-2 since Turner returned to action from his back injury. (more…)

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Ohio State's Dallas Lauderdale dunks on Iowa's Matt Gatens during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Jim Slosiarek)

It didn’t look good for the Ohio State Buckeyes going into the second half. After scoring a season-low 20 points in the first half and trailing by five, it seemed like the Iowa Hawkeyes would get a upset victory at home. But David Lighty and Evan Turner both changed that.

Lighty scored 20 points, including 18 in the second half, and the Buckeyes rallied past pesky Iowa 65-57 on Wednesday night for its fourth straight Big Ten win.

Evan Turner added 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for Ohio State (15-6, 5-3), which scored on its final 11 possessions. Turner posted his third consecutive double-double, and Ohio State is 5-2 since Turner returned from injury.

Ohio State shook off a sluggish start behind Lighty and Turner. They combined to score 32 of Ohio State’s 45 points in the second half to help stave off Iowa’s upset bid.

“We finally got the ball to go in the basket for us. That I think took a little of their momentum out of them,” Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. “That goes to the composure, that we were finally able to go out and get some easy ones.”

Ohio State took its first lead of the second half with 2:46 left, jumping ahead 52-50 on a runner by Lighty. Turner, who also had just two points in the first half, then got a steal and an easy dunk to put the Buckeyes ahead 55-50. Turner’s layup made it 57-50 with 1:04 left.
Ohio State outscored Iowa 27-12 over the final eight minutes for the win.

Eric May lead Iowa (8-13, 2-6) with 18 points, twice his season average (8.9 PPG), but no other Hawkeye scored in double figures.

Ohio State, whose only other road win came at Purdue on Jan. 12, now returns home for a three-game home stand and a chance to makes its move up the Big Ten standings.

That’s certainly good news for the Buckeyes, who are 12-0 at home this season.

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Evan Turner keyed a fast start and Northwestern couldn’t recover as the Buckeyes cruised to a 76 – 56 victory in Columbus Tuesday night. Turner, who flirted with a triple-double, as he finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists, says he’s about 90 percent back to where he was before breaking two bones in his back in early December. But don’ tell Northwestern coach Bill Carmody that.

Northwestern's Mike Capocci has no chance of preventing these two points scored by Ohio State center Dallas Lauderdale in the second half of the Buckeyes' 76-56 victory Tuesday night in Columbus. (Jay LaPrete / Associated Press)

“Yeah. He’s doing OK,” Carmody said.

The Buckeyes came out of the gate quick and were up 7-0 just like that. Turner had five of those points. Ohio State (14-5, 4-3) never looked back, as they led 40-17 after the first half en route to their 19th win in 20 ballgames against Northwestern.

Ohio State, spurred on by former Buckeyes football great Eddie George in the stands, shot 56 percent in the first half and nearly 52 percent overall against a Northwestern defense that limits opponents to less than 40 percent shooting and 62.2 points per game.

The Buckeyes hit their first seven shots from the field while taking a 17-3 lead. After the Wildcats (13-5, 2-4) got as close as 10 points, the Buckeyes ran 14 of the next 18 to go up 31-11.

Ohio State would not say content with that lead, as Northwestern came back from 17 points down against Michigan and also beat then-No.6 Purdue at home three days earlier, their team’s first win over an opponent ranked that high since it beat Michigan State in the Magic Johnson era.

“Tonight as a good night,” Turner said. “We’re definitely getting out transition back, which is important. We really thrive in transition basketball. And we’re all getting each other involved in the game and we’re playing well together.”

Turner became only the second Ohio State player (joining Jimmy Jackson) to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 300 assists for his career.

“Having him back in the lineup just makes us that much of a better team,” said teammate Jon Diebler, who added 17 points of his own. “I think he’s the best player in the country.”

Coach Thad Matta was asked where he thought Turner’s game was.

“About 50 percent,” he said with a laugh.

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Written By: Glenn S. Moore

For the first time in sixteen years, a ranked, power-conference team dared to take on Butler on their home court in Hinkle Fieldhouse. In the end, two lessons were learned. One, the No. 20 Butler Bulldogs beat their first ranked opponent this season and for No. 15 Ohio State Buckeyes, life without star player Evan Turner could be a rough road.

AP Photo/Michael Conroy

The Bulldogs led by as many as 17 in the second half and held off a late charge for a 74 – 66 win. The last time they beat a top-15 team at home? An upset of then No. 11 Indiana in 1993.

Gordon Hayward scored 24 points and Willie Veasley had 15 points and 10 rebounds for theBulldogs (7-3), who had lost to Minnesota, Clemson, and Georgetown this season.

“This games don’t really mean anything for us, because we’re worried about March,” Hayward said. “But it’s good for us, and we like the challenge.”

Turner, the Buckeyes (7-2) leader in scoring, rebounds, and assists, will be out two months after falling after a dunk and injured his back in the Buckeyes’ previous game against Eastern Michigan. P.J. Hill, Turner’s replacement in the starting lineup, finished with no points, one assist and one rebound in 14 minutes.

Ohio State’s coach Thad Matta was so worried about his lack of depth he employed a zone for most of the first half against a team who loves to pass and shoot.

“We’ve got to continue to learn and play smarter,” Matta said, “because Evan is a guy who does so much for you.”

Matta thought he might be without starting guard William Buford on Saturday as well. In an dribbling drill Thursday, Buford’s back tightened up and he fell to the floor. He received heating treatments on the bench during timeouts and managed to play all 40 minutes, scoring a team-high 20 points.

Don’t tell the Butler Bulldogs this was an upset though. But without Turner, Ohio State looked liked the mid-major, with only one starter standing taller than 6-6. The Buckeyes were outrebounded 40-27, including a 15-5 edge on the offensive glass.

David Lighty chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds, as the offensive ran through the junior swingman.
The Buckeyes next game is against Presbyterian on Wednesday in Columbus.

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By: Glenn S. Moore

COLUMBUS, Ohio – It’s only December, but the Buckeyes of Ohio State can say their 77-64 win over No. 21 Florida State Wednesday night was not only big for the program, but also for the Big Ten Conference. With Ohio State’s win, they clinched the Big Ten’s first victory in 11 years of its annual series with the ACC and only the third win in eight tries for the Buckeyes in the series between the two conferences.

AP Photo/Jay LaPrete

“That’s the championship right there,” Ohio State’s Evan Turner said after the game. “So that was huge.”

It was no surprise Turner was the leading man in the win, as he led the Buckeyes with 25 points on 10-17 shooting, adding 13 rebounds, six assists, and two blocked shots. Jon Diebler chipped in 22 points, including 6 field goals from 3 point range. Senior Jeremie Simmons added 14 points off the bench for Ohio State.

Both conferences came into tonight’s play with three wins apiece in head-to-head matchups. Wisconsin’s upset of No. 6 Duke put the Buckeyes in position to put the Big Ten over the top, ending a decade of dominance by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Buckeyes led by 11 at halftime and maintained their lead for the first 7 ½ minutes of the second half. Ahead 43-34, the Buckeyes finally were able to pull away as Simmons hit a 3 off an assist from Turner. Turner then completed a three point play of his own on a double-clutched shot from the baseline. Simmons then made another 3 and Kyle Madsen tipped in his own miss as the lead stretched out to 54-32.

Both teams combined to shoot just over 30 percent from the field, but the Buckeyes, behind Diebler’s 3-pointers, were able to keep their lead in double digits the rest of the way.

“I’ve got to take my hat off to Diebler,” Florida State (6-2) coach Leonard Hamilton said. “We had a difficult time finding him in the first half.”

The Seminoles fell to 7-4 in the annual matchup with Big Ten teams. They were led by Solomon Alabi, who had 21 points. Chris Singleton, the MVP of last weekend’s Old Spice Classic, fouled out with eight points and eight rebounds.

The Buckeyes (6-1) play Eastern Michigan at home on Saturday December 5th, before traveling to play No. 20 Butler on December 12th.

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