Instacap: Ohio State Overcomes Sluggish Start to Down Rutgers, 94-68, Behind JaQuan Lyle's Triple-Double

By Eric Seger on January 13, 2016 at 8:24 pm
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It took longer than expected, but Ohio State finally got the effort it needed to bounce back from a blowout loss at Indiana and defeat lowly Rutgers.

TEAM 1 2 F
OHIO STATE 39 55 94
RUTGERS 41 27 68

The Buckeyes overcame a woeful first half defensive effort to coast to an easy win Wednesday, downing Rutgers 94-68 at the Schottenstein Center behind a triple-double from freshman guard JaQuan Lyle. The 94 points is a season-high for Ohio State.

Lyle led Ohio State with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, securing the triple-double on an assist to Jae'Sean Tate with 4:54 left. It is Ohio State's first triple-double since Feb. 8, 2015, when D'Angelo Russell scored 23 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 11 assists in a 79-60 victory at Rutgers.

Lyle had a double-double at halftime with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but the Buckeyes still trailed 41-39 following Marc Loving's layup at the buzzer.

OHIO STATE STAT RUTGERS
94 POINTS 68
36-73 (39) FGM-FGA (PCT.) 22-57 (39)
7-21 (33) 3PM-3PA (PCT.) 6-20 (30)
15-24 (63) FTM-FTA (PCT.) 18-28 (64)
7 TURNOVERS 15
45 TOTAL REBOUNDS 36
14 OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS 9
31 DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS 27
27 BENCH POINTS 16
4 BLOCKS 3
10 STEALS 4
17 ASSISTS 9

Ohio State scored the first 13 points of the second half, however, and never trailed again.

The Scarlet Knights nailed six 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes and took advantage of a more than four-minute Ohio State scoring drought to extend their lead to eight late in the half.

Corey Sanders hit four 3-pointers on his way to 17 first-half points for the Scarlet Knights. He finished with 20 points.

Rutgers held a 24-17 rebounding advantage at halftime, but Ohio State flipped the script in the second half to win the battle of the boards 45-36.

Including Lyle, six Buckeyes scored in double figures — Tate, Keita Bates-Diop and Kam Williams each had 14, Loving scored 12 and Trevor Thompson tallied 11 while also grabbing seven rebounds.

Omari Grier had 14 points for Rutgers (6-12, 0-5 Big Ten), D.J. Foreman had 13 and Bishop Daniels 12.

Ohio State (12-6, 4-1) visits No. 3 Maryland Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.

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