Buckeyes Hit 3s To Roll Past Indiana

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After winning a game but losing another player, Ohio State coach Thad Matta was asked if he'd try to find a walk-on to fill out his practice sessions.

"(Terrelle) Pryor's not busy, is he?" he cracked.

The Buckeyes didn't need the football squad's athletic quarterback on Tuesday night, with five players hitting double figures led by William Buford's 19 points in a 77-53 victory over undermanned Indiana.

Ohio State nailed 13 of 24 3-pointers, including 11 of 16 in the opening half as it opened up a 16-point lead.

Jon Diebler added 17 points, B.J. Mullens 14, Evan Turner 13 and Jeremie Simmons 12 for Ohio State (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten), which has split six games since starting 9-0. The Buckeyes shot 54 percent from the field.

"We were just hitting the shots they were giving us," Diebler said. "It's nice when we're shooting that good."

Before the game, Ohio State disclosed that Nikola Kecman would miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a torn ligament in his left knee during Monday's practice. Kecman, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Eastern Arizona College, played well in his only game before the injury.

The Buckeyes made four consecutive shots behind the arc to start an 18-0 first-half run that pushed the lead into double figures. Indiana (5-11, 0-4) never got closer than 13 again.

"I'm getting pretty comfortable," said Buford, a freshman who has led the Buckeyes in scoring in each of the last three games. "My teammates are always there for me. I'm getting more relaxed when I'm out there on the court."

Simmons added eight assists, while Turner and Diebler each had five.

"We've been practicing that a lot, trying to get open looks while throwing it inside-out," Simmons said of the Buckeyes' reliance on throwing it into their big men, who then kicked the ball outside for an open shot. "When we move the ball, we can get any shot we want. We get a lot of open looks. When we're not moving the ball, we force up a lot of shots. And Coach doesn't really like that."

Tom Pritchard had 16 points and 11 rebounds, with Verdell Jones III adding 12 for the Hoosiers, who lost their seventh in a row.

The game pitted two of the youngest teams in the country. The Buckeyes don't have a senior on the roster and do not have a current player who saw action as recently as two seasons ago. Meanwhile, Indiana, crippled by NCAA violations under the regime of the fired Kelvin Sampson, started four true freshmen and a junior.

"We've got to find small measures of progress in this right now," coach Tom Crean said. "We didn't put up enough resistance defensively, and they took advantage of it."

Down by 16 at the break, the Hoosiers got as close as 47-34 by scoring six of the first eight points, but got no closer the rest of the way.

"We have to continue to understand that we've got to come out ready for a fight from the very beginning," Crean said. "On the road we've got all these situations where we get into the game and at some point in time we realize we can compete, but unfortunately the other team has already made a substantial mark and established how the game is going to be played. Ohio State did that tonight."

One of the biggest cheers of the second half came when ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews, who was working the game, was pictured on the arena monitors.

The Buckeyes broke out to a 44-28 halftime lead, with three-quarters of their points coming from behind the arc. They hit eight of their first nine 3-pointers.

"We obviously got off to a very good start," Matta said. "We did a good job of sharing the basketball. Shot selection was very good."

Indiana trailed just 15-10 after Malik Story's short jumper at the 13:35 mark. But the Buckeyes reeled off the next 18 points to take control. The first four baskets in the run were 3-pointers - two by Buford and one each for Diebler and Simmons.

The Hoosiers were 0 for 6 with two turnovers while drawing a blank for almost 6½ minutes.

Indiana's leading scorer, Devan Dumes, was listed as doubtful for the game after spraining an ankle late in Saturday's 76-45 loss at Illinois, when the Illini hit 13 of 25 3-pointers. But he was able to start the game, wearing a protective brace on the ankle. He had eight points in 32 minutes.

Ohio State has hit more 3-pointers in a half only once before - 12 at Michigan three years ago.

"We're not a finished product," Matta said. "The more time we can get for these guys, the better our team's going to be in the end. You've got freshmen out there who need Big Ten experience."

That was true for both teams.

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