Buckeyes Keep Rolling with 73-51 Win at Rutgers

Sunday, March 10

Piscataway, N.J.

2:00 p.m.

Ohio State

19-12,9-11Big Ten

Rutgers

15-16,7-13Big Ten

Ohio St.

Rutgers

Buckeyes Keep Rolling with 73-51 Win at Rutgers

3/10/2024 4:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Ohio State closed out the regular season with their fourth-consecutive victory, beating Rutgers 73-51, in Piscataway, N.J., on Sunday afternoon.

The Buckeyes finish the regular season 19-12 overall and 9-11 in Big Ten play.

Sophomore Roddy Gayle Jr. led the way with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting while sophomore Bruce Thornton added 11 points, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. Jamison Battle was 4-of-5 from the floor and finished with 10 points. Big man Felix Okpara held his own down low, scoring 10 points, grabbing a game-high eight rebounds and blocking three shots.

Dale Bonner knocked-down a pair of three-pointers to finish with nine points. The Buckeyes improve to 11-2 when he makes a three-pointer this season.

The Buckeyes got out to a flying start with Battle and Gayle making a pair of threes for and 8-0 lead to open the game. With both the offense and defense clicking, the Buckeyes were able to hold Rutgers to a 14-5 lead by the second media timeout.

The Scarlet Knights climbed back into the game, cutting the lead to four, but Ohio State responded well, hitting three-consecutive shots to push the lead back to 10 at 25-15. Rutgers made a late run to end the half and trimmed the OSU lead to 30-28 at the break.

Okpara opened the second half with four-consecutive points, including an alley-oop slam to kick-start the Buckeye offense. Rutgers closed to within 36-32 but what followed was a 22-4 Buckeye scoring run and they never looked back. The lead grew to as many as 27 points and would end in a 73-51 victory. The 22-point margin of victory tied the Buckeyes' largest win at Rutgers.