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NCAA Basketball: Ohio State Looks To Avoid Upset Against North Florida

The Ohio State Buckeyes are 3-0 so far this season. They will look to stay undefeated in a match-up against the battle-tested North Florida Ospreys on Monday night.

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The Ohio State Buckeyes will play their fourth game of the season on Monday night as the North Florida Ospreys visit Columbus, but the test will be more to see if the Buckeyes are able to take every team seriously as they try to improve on their No. 3 ranking. North Florida will be in town looking for an upset after already having played tough competition with losses to Alabama, Florida and Miami on its early schedule.

The Buckeyes are of course led into this game by sophomore big man Jared Sullinger. The 6-foot-9 center is averaging 18.3 points and 8.7 rebounds while making 63 percent of his shot attempts through the team's first three games of the season. Senior guard William Buford has also been solid for Ohio State with averages of 15 points and four rebounds through the Buckeyes' first few victories.

For the Ospreys, junior guard Jerron Granberry could be key. He didn't play in North Florida's loss to the Florida Gators, but the 6-foot-4 shooter connected on 4-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc in Saturday's loss to Miami. Andy Diaz and Travis Wallace are both averaging over 10 points per game for North Florida as well, but the Ohio State interior bigs should be able to limit them both.

Following Monday night's game, the Buckeyes will host the VMI Cadets on Wednesday evening and then Valpo on Friday before a match-up with No. 6 ranked Duke next Tuesday.

Photographs by spatulated, Triple Tri, and chrischappelear used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.