Ohio State Buckeyes crush Virginia Military Keydets 107-74: NCAA Basketball
A strong second half play enabled the Ohio State Buckeyes cruise past Virginia Military Keydets 107-74 on Wednesday night at the Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio.
William Buford led all scorers in the game with a game-high 23 points to go along with six assists and three rebounds.
Ohio were 67.6 percent from the field including 50 percent from behind the arc. In contrast, Virginia made only 38.5 percent of their field goals.
Forward Jared Sullinger was also exceptional for Buckeyes, completing a double-double with 17 points along with 12 rebounds, during his 20 minutes stay on the court. Apart from Buford and Sullinger, guard Aaron Craft canned 13
points and dished out eight assists; Deshaun Thomas added 11 points while J.D. Weatherspoon had 10.
It took Ohio State a few minutes to get into their groove which meant that the scores were tied at 5-5 early. However once the Buckeyes got going, there was nothing that Keydets could do to stop them. Just six minutes into the
first half the Buckeyes erupted with an 11 point unanswered surge and pushed their lead to 30-13.
Ohio maintained their dominance through the first half and led the Keydets 57-44 at its end. Buford hit 12 of his 23 points during the half as Ohio shot 70 percent from the field in the first stanza.
After the break, Sullinger gave the Buckeyes a brisk start with his three baskets, as they came out firing on all cylinders. This was followed by a 23-3 blow through spurt and the Keydets were never a threat after that.
With this win, Ohio State stretched their winning streak at home to 27and are just one triumph away from eclipsing the third-longest streak in the school history.
For Virginia Military, forward Ron Burks was the leading contributor. He posted 19 points together with six boards and four assists while Keith Gabriel managed to add 21 points in the losing effort.
"They are as advertised," Virginia coach Duggar Baucom said of the Buckeyes after the game. "Sullinger's a load inside and did a great job and we knew he and Buford were the two main guys. We didn't know that Deshaun Thomas could
shoot 3s like that."
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