After Ohio State’s opening round game Friday night, Buckeye coach Thad Matta had some prophetic words regarding junior Evan Turner, who scored just nine points in the win.

“He’ll be back,” Matta said.

Sure enough, Turner returned to form. The Buckeye point guard torched Georgia Tech to the tune of 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in OSU’s 75-66 win over the Yellow Jackets on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“I was just trying to take what the defense gave me,” Turner said. “I was trying to go at the right time and definitely just try to try my best to make plays and get everybody involved.”

Many questioned leading up to the game whether or not OSU would be able to handle a Georgia Tech team that had such an abundance of size on the interior. And early on, it looked as though those worries were warranted.

The Yellow Jackets opened the game on a 10-2 run, and had stifled a usually potent OSU offense.

“We couldn’t put the ball in the basket,” Matta said. “And credit Georgia Tech with their defense.”

But the struggles wouldn’t last long. With less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half, the Buckeyes took the lead with a 13-2 run. They eventually entered the break with a two-point lead, and after a 16-4 run to open the second half, they had a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“We kept telling them, ‘Look at the law of averages. We’ve got to start making shots,'” Matta said. “We came in at halftime and we just talked about trying to get on a run there in the first four minutes, and these guys did a great job with it.”

Juniors Jon Diebler and David Lighty both hit key shots down the stretch for the Buckeyes, finishing with 20 and 18 points respectively. More importantly, however, was the job that Lighty did on the defensive end.

As the anchor of OSU’s 1-3-1 zone, Lighty was forced to defend a much bigger Derrick Favors, the Yellow Jackets’ 6-foot-10-inch forward. Favors finished with just 10 points and four rebounds before fouling out late in the second half.

“It was a physical game by both teams and both teams knew that going into the game,” Diebler said. “I thought Dave had a heck of a game today.”

With the win, OSU advances to the Sweet 16, where they will play Tennessee. For most of the Buckeyes, this is the first time making it past the first weekend of tournament play, an opportunity that Diebler says they won’t be taking for granted.

“It’s a great feeling,” Diebler said. “With what happened last year and how far this team has come and how close we are as a group, it couldn’t happen to a better group of guys.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity that we have.”