No. 2 ranked Ohio State had a scare in the first half when their star big man Jared Sullinger went to the locker room with what appeared to be a foot injury. The Buckeyes were sluggish to finish the first half and found themselves trailing at the break for the second consecutive week without Sullinger on the floor.
Luckily, as news started to swirl that Sullinger's injury was just a contusion and he was getting precautionary x-rays, the Buckeyes turned it around in the second half, outscoring the Gamecocks 45-33 for an eight point win.
Sullinger would not return to the game, but sophomore forward Deshaun Thomas took over in his stead, dropping a career high 30 points on 13-of-16 shooting. The Buckeyes finished shooting 51-percent from the field and outrebounded South Carolina 33-19 without Sullinger.
Ohio State is now 10-1 and has two more tune ups before the Big Ten schedule begins on December 28.