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No. 20 Ohio State powers past Rutgers

Feb 9, 2015 - 2:49 AM Piscataway, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Freshman star D'Angelo Russell had a triple-double, scoring 17 of his 23 points in the first half as No. 20 Ohio State bounced back from an upset to thump Rutgers 79-60 on Sunday.

Jae'Sean Tate added 20 points for the Buckeyes (18-6, 7-4 Big Ten), who were coming off Wednesday's 60-58 loss to Purdue on the road, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

"I think we had better tempo and pushed the ball in transition," said Ohio State coach Thad Matta. "I thought we were more active defensively, just getting our hands on balls and getting deflections."

Russell collected 11 rebounds and 11 assists and Keita Bates-Diop chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds to help the Buckeyes in their second consecutive game without suspended forward Marc Loving.

Bishop Daniels scored 17 points and Junior Etou had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Rutgers (10-15, 2-10), which has lost eight games in a row since shocking then-No. 4 Wisconsin 67-62 on Jan. 11 for the program's first-ever win over a top-five team.

Ohio State led by as much as 25 early in the second half. Rutgers mounted a brief run later, outscoring the Buckeyes 11-1 over a three-minute span to pull within 12 with six minutes remaining.

But Amir Williams scored the last four points in an 8-0 Ohio State burst that made it a 20-point game with a minute to go.

"We just couldn't match up with them tonight," said Rutgers coach Eddie Jordan. "They were really good and really out-classed and out-coached us. They did everything in the book better than we did."

Russell's first career triple-double was the fourth in Ohio State history and first by a freshman. It was the first by a Buckeyes player against a Big Ten opponent.

Matta called it "one of the better performances I have seen in my coaching career."

"His attention to detail and preparation are as good as I've seen for a freshman," said Matta. "That includes a guy I had at Xavier in David West, who was as tuned in as anyone. D'Angelo looks for advantages on the court and that includes mentally."

Ohio State opened the game on an 8-2 run and Rutgers never led. The Buckeyes had a 26-44 lead at halftime.

Game Notes

In the only other meeting between the teams, Rutgers beat Ohio State 97-96 in triple overtime to win the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 30, 1978 ... Ohio State hosts Penn State on Wednesday ... Rutgers hosts Purdue on Thursday.