Men’s Basketball Pounds Tennessee-Martin – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/14/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
December 14, 1998
Box Score | Quotes and Notes
By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Michael Redd scored 22 points and Boban Savovic came off the bench to score 16 as Ohio State beat Tennessee-Martin 92-56 Monday night to give coach Jim O’Brien his 250th career victory.
O’Brien is 15-24 in his second season with the Buckeyes. He was 67-51 at St. Bonaventure and 168-166 at Boston College and is now 250-241 in 17 seasons as a college head coach.
It was the fourth time Ohio State (7-2) had won by at least 27 points this season. The other victims, all at home, were Oakland (89-61), Army (86-45) and Tennessee Tech (78-51).
The loss was the second in a row for Tennessee-Martin (3-6), which is playing its first full season in Division I after an eight-year transition from Division II.
Jason Singleton added 12 points and Jon Sanderson 10 for Ohio State.
Ryan DeMichael matched his career high with 26 points for Tennessee-Martin.
After the first 7 minutes, the Skyhawks trailed just 11-7. They cut an early 8-0 deficit to four points on DeMichael’s bank shot at the 13:28 mark.
That was shortlived, however, as Ohio State ran off the next 19 points. Tennessee-Martin was 0-2 from the field with five turnovers until Nick DeVilder hit a 15-footer jumper at the 8:46 mark.
Over that same 4:42 span, the Buckeyes caught fire. They hit 7-of-8 shots, including the final six in a row – while the Skyhawks weren’t even attempting a shot because of turnovers.
The Buckeyes were on top 51-24 at halftime and led by as many as 38 points in the second half.
Tennessee-Martin was hurt by the absence of injured starters Joe Crumby and Ben Corley. Ohio State backup guard Neshaun Coleman didn’t dress after spraining his right knee in the Buckeyes’ loss 64-63 loss to Toledo on Dec. 5.
Ohio State had lost its last two games – both on the road – after winning six in a row to open its new Value City Arena.
