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Men's Basketball
Diebler, Lighty Carry Buford-Less Buckeyes Over Morehead State
By Brandon CastelCOLUMBUS, Ohio — When the final horn sounded at Value City Arena Tuesday night, it looked like Ohio State had come away with an easy 64-45 victory over visiting Morehead State.
They hadn’t.
Despite winning by 19 points, the third-ranked Buckeyes (4-0) failed to put the Eagles (2-3) away until their big-man, Kenneth Faried, picked up his fourth foul at the 15:19 mark of the second half.
With junior William Buford sidelined by back spasms, Ohio State was holding on to a 37-32 lead when Faried fouled freshman Jared Sullinger while diving for a loose ball. The Buckeyes went on a 9-3 run with Faried on the bench and then closed out the game on an 18-10 run.
“We were a little stagnant in the beginning in the (2-3) zone that they had,” senior David Lighty said.
“They were active and long in the zone and we stood around and had windshield wipers with the ball – just passing it back and forth up top.”
Missing one of their top-scorers in Buford, Lighty stepped up with 11 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals while playing a full 40 minutes. The Buckeyes also got 40 minutes from freshman Aaron Craft, who started in place of Buford, and senior Jon Diebler, who led the game with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
“I got to the open area and we shot all right when we were passing the ball,” said Diebler, who hit four of his seven tries from behind the arc.
“They set good screens for me and I was just knocking them down.”
Thad Matta needed a big game out of his top three-point shooter because both of his big men were in early foul trouble against Faried. Sullinger picked up his second foul at the 11:12 mark of the first half and finished with zero points and three rebounds in eight first-half minutes.
“He probably learned a valuable lesson tonight,” Matta said of Sullinger, who finished the game with eight points and eight rebounds.
“This isn’t high school. Every night you take the floor, you’re going to get the other team’s best shot.”
Starting center Dallas Lauderdale picked up his second foul at the 8:09 mark, but Matta was forced to leave him on the floor. It was less than five minutes later when he was whistled again for hooking Faried over the back as the two big-men battled down in the paint.
With Ohio State’s two big men in foul trouble, Faried took over the middle stretch of the game. He had nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks and three steals in the first half, but picked up two quick fouls in the first five minutes of the second half.
“He’s the best player in our league and obviously our best player,” Morehead State Head Coach Donnie Tyndall said of Faried, who finished with a team-high 15 points and 12 rebounds go with five steals in 32 minutes.
“He gives us a presence at both ends of the floor and we had to sit him for about six minutes.
"That changes the complexion of how we defend.
"Everything we do offensively is predicated on working inside-out off of him. That was an unfortunate fourth foul but that’s life on the road, as they say.”
The Buckeyes had three bad entry passes on their first three possessions of the second half before Sullinger scored his first basket of the game on a two-handed dunk that made it 35-30.
The OSU defense clamped down from there, holding Morehead State to just one field goal over an eight-minute stretch as they extended their lead to 49-38 on a three by Diebler with 7:32 left.They still lead by 11 points with under five minutes to play when Lighty found freshman Deshaun Thomas in the corner for a wide-open three. Thomas finished with 16 points (7-10) and seven rebounds off the bench in 24 minutes.
Craft had seven points, six assists and three rebounds, but did turn the ball over a season-high five times.
“His defense was spectacular tonight,” Matta said of Craft in his first career start.
“He was all over the place (being disruptive). He had some turnovers that I know he can get corrected but he broke a press for 40 minutes versus two guys all game long.”
Matta said he expects to have Buford back for the team’s matchup with Miami (Ohio) Friday night, and that Buford could have played Tuesday if it was “the last game of the season.”
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