• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

No. 21 Buckeyes overwhelm RedHawks

Dec 23, 2014 - 3:03 AM Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Kam Williams led No. 21 Ohio State with 18 points and the Buckeyes rolled to an easy wire-to-wire win over the Miami-Ohio RedHawks, 93-55, Monday.

Ohio State (10-2) went on a 17-0 run in the first half, and the game was never close from there. Marc Loving scored 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds, and D'Angelo Russell added 15 points with nine assists.

Keita Bates-Diop chipped in 12 points with seven boards, and Jae'Sean Tate scored 10.

The RedHawks (3-8) were paced by L.J. Livingston's career-high 17 points off the bench. He shot 7-of-8 from the field and grabbed eight boards. Geovonie McKnight was the RedHawks' only other scorer in double figures with 10 points.

Ohio State started out 9-of-13 from the floor, including hitting six shots in a row to jump out to a 22-7 lead at the 11:20 mark of the first half. Russell scored nine of those points with three shots from long distance.

That was in the middle of a 17-0 run that gave the Buckeyes a 34-7 lead 12 minutes into the game. The run was snapped by a Livingston dunk that ended a four-minute RedHawks scoring drought.

"Russell hit those threes early on and we never really caught up after that in the half," said RedHawks coach John Cooper.

The Buckeyes closed the half scoring 10 of the last 12 points to own a 46-24 advantage after 20 minutes. Russell finished the half with 10 points and four assists.

Livingston's slam 15 seconds after the break were the first points put on the board but Ohio State was not about to let the RedHawks back into the game. Russell and Loving teamed up on an 11-0 run to push the Buckeyes lead to 31 points.

At one point in the second half the RedHawks got within 22 points, but the Buckeyes were never threatened. Ohio State scored the final six points of the game to account for the final margin and its largest lead of the game.

"I think the biggest thing for us is getting stops on defense," said Williams. "Our transition game is top notch, so when we get out and run, things really open up for me and everyone else on the floor."

Game Notes

Ohio State finished the game shooting 54.5 percent and limited Miami-Ohio to 5-of-26 from beyond the arc ... Ohio State owns a 6-2 edge in the all-time series against its in-state foe ... The RedHawks have lost seven of their last eight games ... Ohio State's Anthony Lee appeared to hurt his ankle in the first half and did not return ... Buckeyes guard Shannon Scott has at least one steal in 19 consecutive games ... The RedHawks have not topped a ranked opponent since Dec. 20, 2001 against Boston College ... Ohio State continues a four-game homestand Saturday against Wright State while the RedHawks will host Division-III Capital next Monday.