As Ohio State honored its 1960 national champion men’s basketball team on Sunday, the day seemed destined to be more about the past than the present. The 2010 Buckeyes didn’t appear to get the memo.

Against a Minnesota team that had beaten them just three weeks ago, the Buckeyes shot 63 percent from the field and routed the Gophers 85-63 in one of their best performances of the season.

Sophomore guard William Buford, who has been dealing with the effects of a root canal he underwent last week, scored a career-high 26 points. Buford made four-of-five from beyond the 3-point arc and added five rebounds and five assists.

“Will’s a very tough kid,” coach Thad Matta said. “I thought he played extremely well today.”
Juniors Evan Turner and Jon Diebler each scored 19 points of their own, and Turner handed out a game-high eight assists.

The 19 points were the most Diebler has scored since the first week of January. He connected on five of his nine 3-point attempts, and it was one of the few times since the Big Ten season started that Diebler was able to get into a rhythm offensively.

“I thought we played well all day,” Diebler said. “When Evan [Turner] and Will are playing like they are, they draw so much attention. It just got me some good looks today.”

As for the Gophers, they have dropped four of their last five games and, in the process, have shown their “worst defensive effort in a long time,” coach Tubby Smith said.

“It was a game that we really didn’t give ourselves a chance to win today,” Smith said. “Ohio State is a very talented team and they are playing well right now, but we’re not.”

The win was OSU’s 13th win in as many tries at Value City Arena this season. The undefeated home record is something that Diebler said his team prides itself on.

“Just having the fans that we have makes it a tough place to play,” Diebler said. “It’s tough to play on the road in the Big Ten, and you have to protect your home court. I think we’ve done a good job of that this year.”

But for Turner, it was more than just a normal home game. The Buckeye point guard said that with the 1960 team looking on, he and his teammates knew they couldn’t disappoint. Fortunately for Turner, they didn’t.

“I’m sure everybody could feel the presence of them,” Turner said. “It was just a big day; it was huge.”

After the game, Turner was asked if perhaps this performance was a sign of things to come. Is it possible that, 50 years from now, his team will be celebrating the anniversary of its own championship?

“That would be pretty cool,” Turner said. “You never know.”