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Buckeyes defeat 'Noles in ACC/Big Ten action

Dec 1, 2010 - 6:58 AM Tallahassee, FL (Sports Network) - Jared Sullinger led a balanced attack with 11 points and 13 rebounds, as the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes remained unbeaten with a 58-44 victory over the Florida State Seminoles as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Jon Diebler added 12 points for the Buckeyes (6-0), who have won all six of their games this season by double digits. David Lighty chipped in with 10 points and seven boards.

William Buford and Dallas Lauderdale donated nine and seven points, respectively, for Ohio State, which is off to a 6-0 start for the fourth time under Thad Matta, who is in his seventh year at the helm.

"They're a week away from being a really, really good basketball team," Matta said of Florida State. "That may be one of the best defenses I've ever gone up against in my life. We just couldn't get an easy shot."

Ian Miller finished with 11 points for the Seminoles (5-2), who have lost two in a row since starting the season with five straight wins. Derwin Kitchen added 10 points and five rebounds, while Chris Singleton supplied eight points and seven boards in defeat.

Ohio State never looked back after Buford opened the game with a three- pointer. Lauderdale and Lighty followed with layups to make it a 7-0 contest just over two minutes in.

A Kitchen jumper and Michael Snaer's layup cut the deficit to two, 10-8, with about 13 minutes to go in the first half.

The Buckeyes, though, fought back with a 10-2 flurry to create some distance. Lighty's jumper made it a 20-10 game, and Ohio State held a 28-17 edge at the break.

Diebler was good on a trio of free throws and Buford made a jumper to give the Buckeyes a 40-23 lead with 15:45 to play.

Florida State stayed in the game with an ensuing 11-3 run. Miller tallied five points during the burst, including a pair of free throws with 11:51 left to cut the gap to 43-34.

The Seminoles cut their deficit to seven, 49-42, on a Deividas Dulkys trey with 4 1/2 minutes remaining. Ohio State, though, responded with six straight points to put the game away.

Game Notes

Ohio State leads the all-time series with Florida State, 5-0...The Buckeyes improved to 4-5 in this event, while the Seminoles fell to 6-6...Ohio State made 16-of-21 shots from the foul line, while Florida State went 7-of-10 from the charity stripe.