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Lighty, No. 3 Ohio State roll over RedHawks

Nov 27, 2010 - 12:26 AM Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - Senior guard David Lighty scored 21 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists, as the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes remained unbeaten with a 66-45 victory over the Miami-Ohio RedHawks at Value City Arena.

Lighty went 4-for-4 from three-point range in the second half for the Buckeyes (5-0), who have won all five of their games this season by double figures. He has now been a part of 100 victories during his tenure at Ohio State.

"It's definitely an accomplishment," Lighty said. "I have been here for awhile, so I guess a lot of wins can be expected. Right now, though, I'm just focused on this team and taking one step, one game at a game."

Deshaun Thomas added 15 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Buckeyes, who got 12 points from Jared Sullinger.

Orlando Williams had 13 points in a reserve role for the RedHawks (2-4), who suffered their third loss to a ranked opponent this year. Julian Mavunga finished with 11 points and eight boards.

Miami-Ohio shot just 29.4 percent from the field to suffer its third consecutive loss.

"We focus on the small victories. We don't think about the end of the game," RedHawks head coach Charlie Coles said. "Like when somebody hits a shot and I go crazy, I'm just trying to get them to play hard. When everything's going wrong for a team, the only thing you can do is play hard. I wrote two things on the board at halftime: 'Take care of the ball' and 'Compete'. We had no strategy, no nothing. And that's what we were trying to do."

Allen Roberts made a pair of free throws to give the RedHawks a 2-0 edge with 16:16 left. Miami-Ohio, though, struggled shooting the ball early on, which allowed Ohio State to rip off nine straight points.

The RedHawks made their first shot from the field when Mavunga made a three- pointer with 12:09 remaining.

The visitors went cold from the field again to allow Ohio State to put together a 13-0 run. Thomas tallied eight points during the burst, including a layup to make it a 22-5 contest with 7:42 to go.

The RedHawks were able to stay in reach by finishing the half on an 11-6 flurry. Williams' trey cut the gap to 28-16 at the break.

Miami-Ohio scored the first seven points of the second half to make things interesting. Antonio Ballard's layup cut the deficit to 28-23 with 16:40 remaining.

Ohio State responded with a 13-2 run to create some distance. Sullinger had six points during the surge, including a layup to give the Buckeyes a 41-25 margin with over 12 minutes to play.

Lighty made a three-pointer with eight minutes left to make it a 50-29 game.

Miami-Ohio never got closer than 17 the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Ohio State leads the all-time series, 4-2. The Buckeyes are 3-1 when facing Miami-Ohio in Columbus...Ohio State shot 52.1 percent from the field.