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Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Remain Perfect with Win Over Belmont
By John Porentas

No. 25 Ohio State (6-0) withstood a fearsome second-half long-range bombardment by Belmont (3-4) to hold off the Bruins and take an 85-75 win at Value City Arena.

The Buckeyes opened the game as if they might blow out the Bruins, jumping out to an 11 point lead early at 13-2 with 15:29 remaining in the first period. After the Bruins scored the first basket of the game to take a 2-0 lead, OSU went on a 13-0 run thanks to a jump shot by J.J. Sullinger, a three pointer by Sullinger, a three pointer from Matt Sylvester, a three pointer by Jamar Butler and a three pointer by Je'Kel Foster.

The Bruins finally came out of their scoring hibernation with a three pointer of their own to end the run, but the Buckeyes were able to remain in control the rest of the half. OSU could not extend its lead past 14 however, and the Bruins closed to within 12 at the half when center Boomer Herndon got a tip-in basket with just one second remaining in the half.

Belmont served notice early in the second half that they were not ready to go away. The Bruins cut OSU lead to just six again with 16:28 remaining to play, and then heated up from three point range to make a serious run at the Buckeyes. After getting off just four threes in the first half, Belmont got off 14 in the second, making eight of them.

Behind the shooting of Andy Wicke, who finished the game with a team-high 21 points on five-of-seven shooting from three point range, Belmont took a 49-48 lead with 13:26 remaining on the clock.

Following an OSU timeout, the Buckeyes slowly regained control of the game. Sullinger made a layup to allow OSU to regain the lead, and the Buckeyes quickly re-extended to five up at 55-50.

"Coach challenged us in the time out," said Sullinger.

"They were making some plays, making a run, we just had to find a way to make some plays ourselves. He just challenged us and he challenged the seniors, told us that the seniors had to lead us."

Butler had one last push left in them and tied the game at 55, but that would be the last time the Buckeyes were not ahead. Ohio State went on an 18-4 run to lead 73-59 with 4:08 remaining and were not seriously threatened the remainder of the game.

Sullinger led all scorers with 23 points and all rebounders with 10 to record a double-double.

"I thought if anybody Sullinger was the difference in the game for them. He just really had a great game," said Belmont Head Coach Rick Byrd.

While Sullinger was having a good night, OSU post man Terence Dials was not. Dials did not score a field goal in the game, going 0-7 from the floor, and ended the game with three points on three-of-six foul shooting. Dials was effective defensively, however, helping to limit Belmont center Boomer Herndon to just four of 13 from the field.

"We were going to front him and try to get help off Sylvester's man, because of all the guys that weren't shooting the three good on the team it was Sylvester and that was our basic plan," said Byrd of Belmont's defensive plan against Dials.

"If he (Dials) did get it we were going to double off his man and we were going to try and keep him from turning over his left shoulder and scoring because that's what he does best."

OSU Head Coach Thad Matta said he thought playing their third game in six days, one of the a road game, took a toll on the Buckeyes, particularly in the second half.

"I think tonight it was evident we were exhausted," said Matta.

"We couldn't come up with a loose ball, we couldn't come up with a rebound, we had to find the guys that were going to make the plays down the stretch.

"My biggest concern tonight was whether we had enough juice to go, because we weren't as sharp as we normally are yesterday in practice," Matta said.

Compounding Matta's concern was his respect for Belmont.

"I told their coach that watching them play on tape, they are the best three and three team I've ever seen," said Matta.

"Belmont beats a big team every year. Our guys were tuned into that. They drilled us one time at Butler.

"I think Belmont has a chance to be a really good basketball team. This is going to be a really good RPI game for us. Every year they're in the hunt for their conference championship and I think they're going to win a lot of basketball games. I like their team."

Game Notes and Quotes:

* Bruin Coach Rick Byrd was disappointed with the loss to the Buckeyes, but not in the play of his team who played hard and gave the Buckeyes all they wanted for big stretches of the game.

"It was a good outing for us. Not a win, but I was proud of our players," said Byrd.

Byrd, who has 25 years of coaching experience and a career overall record of 476 - 277, also liked what he saw of the Buckeyes, both during the game and after it.

"I think Ohio State has a very good team," said Byrd.

"I was very impressed with their kids and the way they acted and the way they treated us and the way they shook hands. You don't always see that and I was really impressed with that team in that regard and appreciated it a lot," Byrd said.

* Sophomore post player Matt Terwilliger logged 17 minutes in the game spelling starting center Terence Dials. Terwilliger scored eight points on four-of-five shooting and was a defensive presence. He did not, however, record a single rebound. Still, Matta was please with Terwilliger's overall performance.

"I thought Matt played well. Obviously I want him to rebound the ball a little bit more, 17 minutes and no rebounds, but I'm very happy with the way Matt's playing. The thing with Matt is you've got to constantly stay on him to keep the focus. When he's doing that he does a really nice job for us."

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