Hoop Scoop: Won one and lost one
Right: Ohio State’s David Lighty goes up for two of his 22 points against Lipscomb.
(AP Photo)
The 17th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes shook off a pesky Lipscomb team as David Lighty scored career-high 22 points and Evan Turner added his second triple-double of the season in a 84-64 win over the Bisons at Value City Arena, Tuesday night.
Ohio State, though, was missing one player on the bench. Walter Offutt, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound sophomore guard from Indianapolis, Ind., announced on Tuesday that he was leaving the program and planed on transferring after he completes Fall Quarter classwork.
Offutt appeared in three of Ohio State’s first five games, averaging 3.7 points in 7.3 minutes of action per game, but did not see any action in the two contests the Buckeyes played at Madison Square Garden in New York vs. North Carolina and California. He was generally the third backcourt player off the bench, usually as a shooting (2) guard playing behind Jeremie Simmons.
Offutt played in 21 of 33 games last season, but was coming off a second knee surgery, which was performed during the summer before his freshman year.
Last night against Lipscomb, a dunk by Dallas Lauderdale put the Buckeyes ahead 8-6 with 13:50 left until halftime and Ohio State never trailed the rest of the way, but the Bisons hung around for as long as they could.
Another two-handed jam by Lauderdale with 6:44 to go in the first period gave the Buckeyes a 24-14 advantage, their largest of the first half, but the Bisons went on a 9-0 run from that juncture capped off on a jumper by Michael Teller that closed the gap down to a single point at 24-23 with 5:05 remaining.
Ohio State took a 36-27 lead into the locker room at halftime thanks in part to Jon Diebler’s three-pointer with just nine seconds left until intermission.
In the second half, a jumper by Turner with 9:24 to go put the Buckeyes up 60-49 and OSU held a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the game.
Turner finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, but got off to a shaky start committing five first half turnovers while only scoring two points. He didn’t turn over the ball once in the second half, though.
Diebler added 17 points and was 5-of-11 from beyond the arc, while Lauderdale had 13 points and could of had more but was just 3-of-8 from the foul line. Simmons chipped in 11 points as five Buckeyes scored in double figures.
Ohio State shot 57.9 percent (33-of-57) from the field and were 11-of-22 from three-point land. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes were just 7-of-17 (41.2%) from the free throw line.
Lipscomb was 25-of-58 (43.1%) shooting from the field, but couldn’t connect from downtown as they were 5-of-18 (27.8%) from beyond the arc.
Surprising, the Bisons outrebounded the Buckeyes, 32-30, but committed more turnovers (18-14).
Up next, Ohio State hosts the St. Francis of Pennsylvania Red Flash. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
