Roddy Gayle Jr. led six Ohio State scorers in double figures with 15 points, and the host Buckeyes defeated Miami (Ohio) 84-64 in Columbus on Wednesday for their seventh straight win.
Ohio State (8-1) is off to its best start since winning 11 of its first 12 in the 2019-20 season.
The Buckeyes haven’t lost since a 73-66 defeat to then-No. 15 Texas A&M on Nov. 10 in the second game. The streak includes a victory over then-No. 17 Alabama, 92-81, two weeks later.
Bruce Thornton scored 14, Jamison Battle and Zed Key 13, Dale Bonner 11 and Evan Mahaffey 10 for the Buckeyes.
Darweshi Hunter topped the RedHawks (4-4) with 15 points, and Ryan Mabrey added 13. They had won their previous two games.
The Buckeyes were opportunistic in taking a 39-26 halftime lead after they outscored the RedHawks 18-9 over the final nine minutes.
Ohio State had 16 points from nine Miami turnovers, while the RedHawks got nothing from the two Buckeye miscues in the opening half.
Miami also lost the battle of the boards in the first half, as the Buckeyes grabbed 11 offensive rebounds that resulted in 15 second-chance points.
For the game, Ohio State scored 25 second-chance points and 25 points from the RedHawks’ 17 giveaways.
Miami coach Travis Steele was assessed a technical foul at 17:12 of the second half for arguing what he felt was a missed foul by the Buckeyes.
Five minutes later, Key and Hunter were given technicals after their scramble on the floor for a loose ball.
This game was sandwiched between a pair of Big Ten games for the Buckeyes, who downed Minnesota 84-74 Sunday. Ohio State plays its last conference opponent for December on Saturday at Penn State. The RedHawks play at Davidson on Saturday.
Ohio State owns an 8-2 record with five straight wins against the RedHawks, who won the first game of the series in 1916. The past eight meetings have been in Columbus.
–Field Level Media