No. 2 Ohio State Outlasts Late Run, Defeats Florida State 58-44 in Big Ten/ACC Challenge – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Ohio State freshman Jared Sullinger was a load for Florida State to handle.
In just his sixth collegiate game, the 6-foot-9 widebody out of Columbus, Ohio, muscled his way to the third double-double of his blossoming career with 11 points and 13 rebounds to lead the second-ranked Buckeyes to a 58-44 victory in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday night.
“He loves to win and he knows how to win,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “For him to go 36 minutes, I mean it was hotter than a beach in that gym tonight and I was really, really pleased with how he kept competing.”
Sullinger defended Chris Singleton, Florida State’s top scorer, for part of the game. Singleton was held to eight points, half his season average.
“We knew defense was going to win the game,” Sullinger said.
Jon Diebler led the Buckeyes (6-0) with 12 points and David Lighty added 10.
Ohio State jumped to a 7-0 lead and never trailed, building its biggest lead at 40-23 on William Buford’s jumper with 15:45 left in the game.
Florida State (5-2) closed within 49-42 on Deividas Dulky’s only 3-pointer with 4:30 left.
“We’ve been on the road in difficult situations before,” Lighty said. “I think it’s us not being rattled and just being ready for everything that comes at us.”
Ohio State had a 42-33 rebounding advantage, but dominated the offensive boards 17-7 with Sullinger getting six.
“I pride myself on the rebounding,” Sullinger said. “If I’m not rebounding, I’m really not effective.”
Freshman Ian Miller had 11 points and Derwin Kitchen added 10 for the Seminoles, who shot 35.4 percent and committed 22 turnovers, including 14 in the second half. Florida State shot 33 percent in a 55-51 loss to Florida on Sunday.
“I hate to say it, but they outmuscled us,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “We gave them too many extra possessions.”
Both teams shot poorly in the early going, but Ohio State’s domination of the backboards allowed the Buckeyes to stay comfortably ahead on the way to a 28-17 halftime lead.
Florida State shot just 26.1 percent in the first half while Ohio State was slightly better at 36.7 percent but enjoyed a 25-14 rebound advantage.
Singleton had a second straight cold-shooting night, making just 2 of 9 tries from the field on the heels of a 2-for-12 showing in Sunday’s loss.
Ohio State is 6-0 against Florida State, including consecutive victories in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Buckeyes prevailed 77-64 in last year’s game at Columbus.
After winning its first five games of the season against weaker opponents, Florida State struggled again against the Buckeyes as it had Sunday against 18th-ranked Gators.
Noting the Florida State Game
- Ohio State’s four returning starters for the game have combined for 316 career starts and 421 games played.
- As a ranked team, Ohio State is 367-105 all-time.
- Ohio State improved to 19-7 when ranked No. 2 in the country, and 104-17 when ranked among the Top 3 nationally.
- Ohio State held Miami to 6 of 23 shooting (26.1 pct.) in the first half.
- When ranked in the Top 10 nationally, Ohio State is 246-56 with wins in 37 of its last 39 outings.
- Ohio State is now 5-0 vs. Florida State and 37-26 vs. teams from the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference).
- The Buckeyes are 4-5 overall in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and have won each of its last three Challenge games. Thad Matta is 4-3 in the event.
- Thad Matta improved his career record to 264-53 overall and 162-54 at Ohio State.
- Matta is 83-17 vs. non-conference competition at Ohio State and 79-37 vs. Big Ten foes (regular season and Big Ten tournament games) for an overall record of 162-54.
- Ohio State is 91-14 when outrebounding opponents under Matta (42-33 rebound advantage vs. FSU).
- When leading at the half, Matta’s teams are 135-19 (led 28-17 vs. FSU).
- With the win, Ohio State is 32-6 in November under Matta, 6-0 this season, his best November record at Ohio State.
- Matta is now 2-0 vs. Florida State in his career.
- Senior David Lighty put up 10 points against Florida State to move his career total to 1,100, tied with Mel Nowell for 38th-place all-time in career scoring. He also added 7 rebounds.
- Lighty recorded his 101st win as a Buckeye vs. the Seminoles. He had 35 as a freshman, 25 as a sophomore, 29 as a junior and 7 during the 2008-09 season when he received a medical redshirt because of a broken foot.
- With one theft vs. FSU, Lighty owns the No. 9 spot all-time at Ohio State with 148.
- Senior Jon Diebler made two 3-pointers, pushing his Ohio State career record to 277.
- With his pair of treys, Diebler extends his streak to 22 games with at least one 3-pointer made.
- With 12 points against the Seminoles, Diebler passed Richard Schnittker to move into 33rd-place at Ohio State in all-time career scoring with a total of 1,135 points.
- Freshman Jared Sullinger scored in double figures for the fifth time this season. He had 11 points and 13 rebounds. He has three double-doubles in six career outings.
- Dallas Lauderdale recorded a block to move his career total to 177, 10 shy of tying Brad Sellers for third all-time in Ohio State history.
