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Men's Basketball
Sullinger, Buckeyes Roll over Gamecocks for 10-0 Start
By Brandon CastelCOLUMBUS, Ohio — Saturday wasn’t the first time in his career Jared Sullinger had received a standing ovation, but it’s the kind of thing that never gets old.
Jared Sullinger
Photo by Jim DavidsonOhio State’s star freshman scored 30 points and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds as the second-ranked Buckeyes improved to 10-0 with a 79-57 win over visiting South Carolina.
“We took this game knowing it would be a tremendous challenge for us,” South Carolina coach Darrin Horn said.
“It was a good old-fashioned whipping from a veteran team. We looked like a team that had very little experience going into the game.”
The Gamecocks came in with a 7-1 record, but had no answer for Sullinger in the paint. The 6-foot-9 freshman had his fifth double-double of the season by halftime as the Buckeyes built a 42-21 lead in the first half.
“We wanted to focus on shutting down three-pointers and eliminating their transition play. But sometimes if you try to take it all away, you could end up taking nothing away,” Horn said of his team’s strategy for defending Ohio State.
“I think when a team’s that balanced, then you have to pick something. We’d rather shut down the perimeter shot.”
It wasn’t the defense that hurt South Carolina the most Saturday. Much like they did in their previous loss at Michigan State, the Gamecocks shot the ball very poorly in the first half. Part of that was simply missing easy baskets, but an even bigger part was the defensive intensity by the Buckeyes in the early going.
“Defense was the main key; it was our main focus,” said senior David Lighty, who finished with nine points, five rebounds and five assists.
“We wanted to come out and hit them first. We executed the game plan to a T. Defense is important to everyone but especially for me. The better we are defensively the better we will be overall.”
Ohio State got out to a 20-6 lead at the 10:40 mark of the first half thanks to an 11-1 run that was capped off with a jumper by freshman Deshaun Thomas. They held South Carolina to just 26.7 percent shooting in the first half and turned them over nine times.
“I don’t think we did a good job of looking to throw it in early and I think most of that was underneath,” Horn said.
“We weren’t concerned about their interior guys so much, it was the length of their perimeter guys we were concerned with.”
The Buckeyes capped off the first half with a 33-foot bank shot from Sullinger, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds at the break.
“The play was supposed to go to Dave,” Sullinger said about the first three-point attempt and make of his college career.
“He was supposed to pass it to me and I give it back, but I didn’t catch the ball clean. All I heard from Dave was to shoot.”
He did, and the ball smacked off the backboard and in to give Ohio State a 21-point halftime lead. They did not come out as focused in the second half, however and the Gamecocks scored on five of their first six possessions.
“Everyone was focused today and ready to go,” said Lighty.
“We weren’t as mentally prepared coming out the second half.”
South Carolina opened the second half with a 9-3 run to make it a 15-point game at 45-30 before junior William Buford knocked down a big three-pointer off an assist from Sullinger, who kicked it back to the three point line after drawing the double-team.
“Our play inside and out makes it real hard for teams to scout us,” Lighty said.
“We have to stay humble. It’s not how you start (the season), it’s how you finish. The pieces we have put together now is working; we just have to continue to get better.”
From there it was Sullinger doing most of the work. He made 12 trips to the free throw line and connected on nine of them. He finished with the second-highest point total of his young career. It was 10 less than his 40-point game against IUPUI, but this performance meant a little more to Sullinger because of what he did on the boards.
“I key in on rebounding,” he said after tying Greg Oden for the second-highest rebounding total ever by an Ohio State freshman.
“If I’m not rebounding then I’m not playing hard. Nineteen rebounds, I was really into the game.”
So was senior Dallas Lauderdale, who finished with six points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 27 minutes. As a team, the Buckeyes out-rebounded South Carolina 44-35, including a 14-10 edge on the offensive glass.
Afterward, South Carolina’s coach singled out another player who helped the Buckeyes commit just eight turnovers to the 15 by the Gamecocks.
“I think he’s a great fit for their team,” Horn said of freshman point guard Aaron Craft.
“He’s a guy that’s looking to run the team. Something that nobody talks about is that they don’t turn the ball over at all. They’ve had a bunch of single-digit games. I think he (Craft) knows his role and he fits in and plays like a veteran, more so than a normal freshman.”
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