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Ohio State stomps UNC-Wilmington

Nov 21, 2010 - 7:39 AM Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - Deshaun Thomas posted 17 points and seven rebounds as No. 4 Ohio State had an easy time with UNC-Wilmington, 81-41, at Value City Arena.

William Buford had 12 points, six boards and five assists for the Buckeyes (3-0), who have opened up the season with three victories of 18 points or more. Jordan Sibert and Jared Sullinger each notched 11 points for the victors.

Matthew Wallace tallied 14 points and Chad Tomko had 13 with five rebounds and three assists for the Seahawks (2-2), who had won two in a row coming in.

"Ohio State is pretty physical and different than what we've seen. I was trying to get our guys to compete as hard as we could. We won't face teams like that the rest of our season," UNC-Wilmington head coach Buzz Peterson said.

Ohio State led 7-0 and 18-4 in the early going, then went up 34-11 with 4:51 to play in the half when David Lighty drained a trey.

Wallace responded from long distance for the visitors, but Jon Diebler's three kicked off a 14-2 run that ended on a Sullinger deuce for a 48-16 game.

"I thought we played really well. My challenge to the team was to start off with high intensity," Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said.

The visitors didn't even have a chance to threaten in the second half.

Game Notes

Ohio State has won both all-time meetings...UNC-Wilmington shot just 26.9 percent from the field in the first half and connected at a 31.6-percent clip in the game...The Buckeyes hit 51.5 percent in the opening 20 minutes en route to a 45.3-percent clip overall...OSU improved to 71-5 all-time against non Big Ten opponents at its home court.