#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.

Diebler scored all of his 18 points via the 3-pointer. While the Buckeyes shot 53 percent for the game, Illinois struggled with Ohio State’s zone defense. The Illini hit 34.3 percent of their shots and didn’t make it to the free-throw line until 19 minutes had passed.

“We couldn’t make nothing,” said, McCamey, who had nine points and nine assists. “They’ve got the best starting five in the conference, I believe.”

Turner’s 16 points came mostly in the second half, but eight of his 11 rebounds were in the first 20 minutes and were a big piece of why the Buckeyes led by 16 at the half.

Illinois (17-9, 9-4) lost for the first time in six games and fell a game behind the conference leaders. The Illini took the court Saturday after back-to-back wins over Michigan State and Wisconsin that put them back in the Big Ten title chase.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta said he reminded his team immediately after the game that, even if they had just beaten a conference contender by 19 on the road, they have to keep winning.

“I’d like to tell you to feel good but, guess what, we’ve got Purdue on Tuesday night,” he said he told his players.