The only thing North Carolina A&T won Wednesday night against 12th-ranked Ohio State was the opening tip. After that, it was all Buckeyes.
Thanks to big nights from freshman guard D'Angelo Russell and sophomore forward Marc Loving, Ohio State jumped out to a 17-4 lead to open the game and cruised to a 97-55 win at Nationwide Arena.
| 1 | 2 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NORTH CAROLINA A&T | 26 | 29 | 55 |
| OHIO STATE | 39 | 58 | 97 |
Russell finished with a team-high 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting while Loving added 15 on just 4 of 5 from the floor. As a team, the Buckeyes (9-1) shot 56 percent and were 7 of 19 from downtown. They also made 20 of their 22 attempts from the free-throw line and forced 26 North Carolina A&T turnovers.
Kam Williams scored 15 off the bench for Ohio State, while Trey McDonald added nine and Sam Thompson and Shannon Scott each finished with eight. Scott also added a game-high 12 assists.
After scoring 17 of the game's first 19 points, the Buckeyes were outscored 24-22 the rest of the first half. Ohio State shot just 43.3 percent from the field in the game's first 20 minutes, but made all nine of its free-throw attempts. Russell led the way for the Buckeyes, scoring 13 of his points in the first half.
Next up for Ohio State is No. 24 North Carolina. The Buckeyes and Tar Heels will play each other as part of the CBS Sports Classic in Chicago at 1 p.m. Saturday.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | NORTH CAROLINA A&T |
|---|---|---|
| 97 | POINTS | 55 |
| 35-62 (56.5) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 22-58 (37.9) |
| 7-19 (36.8) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 8-26 (30.8) |
| 20-22 (90.9) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 3-4 (75.0) |
| 11 | TURNOVERS | 26 |
| 32 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 32 |
| 7 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 11 |
| 25 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 21 |
| 38 | BENCH POINTS | 13 |
| 2 | BLOCKS | 1 |
| 18 | STEALS | 7 |
| 21 | ASSISTS | 16 |
| 40 | PTS OFF TURNOVERS | 13 |
| 37 | FAST-BREAK POINTS | 8 |
| 5 | SECOND-CHANCE POINTS | 13 |
| 44 | POINTS IN PAINT | 24 |
- Ohio State's 18 steals tied for third all-time for a single game. That last time the Buckeyes had 15-plus steals was in 2011.
- Ohio State has shot 50 percent or higher in seven of its 10 games this season.
- Shannon Scott had seven steals in the game, a career high. He had 10-plus assists for the third time this year and is No. 10 all-time on the Buckeyes' assists list with 399 in his career.
- D'Angelo Russell scored 20-plus points for the third time this year and still ranks second nationally among true freshmen in scoring average at 18.0 points per game.
- Marc Loving has now scored in double figures in eight of Ohio State's 10 games this year.
- Kam Williams' 15 points puts him in double figures in three of the Buckeyes' last four games.
