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With the ACC/Big Ten Challenge tied at five, the Ohio State Buckeyes (6-1) knew they had to do their best impression of Mariano Rivera and close out the challenge with a dominating performance. The Buckeyes did just that taking the lead early against the Florida State Seminoles (6-2) and never looking back, winning 77-64.
The defenses and poor shooting dominated the first half, but the Buckeyes were able to put together two impressive runs sparked by Jon Diebler’s outside shooting and the hustle and tenacity of Evan Turner on the boards. The match-up zone that Thad Matta employed seemed to confuse the Seminoles holding them to 30% shooting from the field and ten turnovers.
Diebler continued his hot hand into the second half burning up the nets shooting 50% from behind the arc and collecting a season high 22 points. Evan Turner collected his fifth double double of the season and strengthened his resume as a top contender for the Naismith award, which is given to the top college player in the country.
If Diebler is able to get open and find the bottom of the net regularly like he was able to tonight and Turner and the rest of the supporting class plays with the same intensity and hustle on the boards and on defense, this Buckeye team could be a force to reckon with in the Big Ten and nationally in the big dance.
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As satisfying as the OSU win over FSU, winning the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the first time was the icing on the cake. Go Bucks!! Go Big Ten!!
The Buckeye win was huge for them in the grand scope of things. With each passing day this team gains confidence and going into the next 5 games with only Butler being a big matchup the Buckeyes should be primed to go into the Big Ten schedule and hopefully play as well as they did last night.