The Ohio St. Buckeyes opened their Big Ten schedule in much the same way they opened their regular season schedule: with a blowout win. Ohio St. knocked out the Northwestern Wildcats with an easy 87-54 win on Monday night in Columbus to improve to 13-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
Senior guard William Buford netted a career-high 28 points on 9-14 shooting from the field to lead the Buckeyes. Buford had one of his finest all-around games to date, making 5-7 three-pointers, 5-5 free throws, pulling in 9 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists in 35 dominant minutes.
Meanwhile, the starting frontline of Jared Sullinger (17 points and 14 rebounds) and Deshaun Thomas (16 points and 5 rebounds) controlled the painted area as usual.
The 33-point victory is marks the 10th win by at least 20 points on the season, including a 73-42 win over Wright St. to start the regular season.
The Buckeyes head to the road to face the No. 15 undefeated 12-0 Indiana Hoosiers on Dec. 31.