Evan Turner posted his second triple-double of the season Tuesday night against the Lipscomb Bisons, as OSU posted an 84-64 victory.
Perhaps they were looking forward to the holiday break, or perhaps they were still trying to figure out exactly what a Lipscomb was. Either way, the Buckeyes got off to a slow start in a first half marred by multiple turnovers.
Fortunately, they were able to recover. An alley-oop dunk by Dallas Lauderdale, followed by a John Diebler three-pointer midway through the first half, got the Buckeyes started on a run that gave OSU a lead they would not relinquish.
The Buckeyes took a 36-27 lead into halftime, due mostly to the three-point prowess of Diebler, who knocked down three of five before the intermission, and five of 11 on the night.
The Buckeyes began to pull away from the Bisons at the start of the second half, led by Turner, who had yet another strong performance. His 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists paced a Buckeye team that looked to be playing down a bit to their Atlantic Sun Conference competition.
David Lighty seemed to be on a different level from everyone else on the court, with the exception of his Buckeye teammate Turner. Several of his baskets were of the highlight variety as he scored multiple times on soaring dunks.
The Buckeyes were abysmal from the free-throw line, hitting on only seven of 17 from the charity stripe. At one point, after Lauderdale connected on a free throw, the crowd delivered a sarcastic standing ovation.
The Buckeyes have one more game on their schedule against St. Francis (Pa.) before hosting Florida State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. They’ll need a more solid showing against the Seminoles if they want to post a win for their conference.
