Cleveland State-Ohio State: Lighty Shows It's Not All About Turner with Buckeyes

Ohio State got a look at who’s going to step up in Evan Turner’s absence. David Lighty had 30 points, a career high as he led the Buckeyes to a 72-59 victory over Cleveland State.

The Vikings kept it within ten most of the game, but several scoring runs in the second half led by Lighty broke the game open late for the Buckeyes. Dallas Lauderdale had 12 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks during the game. He is an absolute menace in the paint for opposing teams. This game was won by the play of these two outstanding players for Ohio State.

William Buford was left in Lighty’s shadows tonight that however, did not deter him from having a 12 point, eight rebound performance. His increased offensive production could not have come at a better time for OSU. The scoring will come from Lighty, Diebler and Buford while Turner is out.

Jon Diebler made his points at the charity stripe tonight as he went 6-6 from the line, but only hit one three giving him nine points total for the night. P J Hill added seven points and three assists. Both need to step up their offense production when they play Wisconsin next week.

The starters got most of the minutes and all of the points, as the bench was a non-factor during the game. Kyle Madsen had one point and was the lone player off the bench to register any scoring for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State (10-2) will face Wisconsin (8-2) in its Big Ten opener on New Year’s Eve. The Buckeyes would love to go into the New Year with some momentum as the start of conference play should be reasonable past the Wisconsin game and before the Purdue game on January 12. The Buckeyes need another marquee win along with an impressive record to solidify any chance for post season play in the NCAA Tournament.