Buckeyes get a lot of runs on Blue Hose

Right: The Buckeyes’ David Lighty blows by a Blue Hose defender on his way to the tin for a deuce. (AP Photo)

Walk-on guard Mark Titus scored a point as No. 18 Ohio State easily routed Presbyterian College, 78-48, at the Schottenstein Center, Wednesday night.

Titus, of course, wasn’t alone in the scoring column. The Buckeyes were led by David Lighty, who scored 20 points. Three others notched double-digit point totals as Jon Diebler added an even dozen, William Buford chipped in 11, and Dallas Lauderdale had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Ohio State went up two touchdowns early in the first half after Lauderdale snared an offensive rebound and his putback gave the Buckeyes a 14-0 advantage with 15:05 left. It was all downhill from there.

Jeremie Simmons’ triple with 1:26 to go until halftime put Ohio State ahead 53-21, which was the score when both teams headed to the locker room at the intermission break.

The Buckeyes biggest lead of the game was at the 12:23 mark of the second half following Lighty’s tip-in that made the score 70-27 in favor of OSU.

Ohio State shot 53.9 percent (29-of-54) from the field and connected on 9-of-21 (42.9%) three-pointers. Free throw shooting continues to be a problem as the Buckeyes were just 11-of-19 from the charity stripe.

Defensively, the Buckeyes held the Blue Hose to 33.3 percent (17-of-51) shooting from the floor. In fact, Presbyterian had exactly as many turnovers at they did field goals (17). PC was also 7-of-22 from downtown.

Up next, Ohio State hosts Delaware State, Saturday afternoon. Tip-off at the Schottenstein Center is at 4:00 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPNU.