Ohio St. rallies to spill Miami

The Buckeyes overcame the Hurricanes after ace Jack McClinton was ejected.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — A slap to the face was just what struggling Ohio State needed.

The contact during a scrum Tuesday night prompted the ejection of Miami Hurricanes scoring leader Jack McClinton, and the Buckeyes went on to erase a 14-point second-half deficit and beat the 21st-ranked Hurricanes 73-68.

“Jack is a big leader for us,” teammate Lance Hurdle said. “It’s tough losing Jack.”

Sophomore Jon Diebler scored a career-high 20 points and Evan Turner had 19 for the Buckeyes (4-0), who won for only the second time in seven games in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

“We were fortunate to come back, and it felt great,” Turner said. “It will be a better plane ride home.”

The Hurricanes (4-2) fell to 0-3 in the ACC-Big Ten series. They led 36-21 late in the first half and 38-24 early in the second but sorely missed McClinton.

The senior guard was ejected for a flagrant foul midway through the first half after he took a swipe with the palm of his hand at Anthony Crater, brushing his face. The contact came almost immediately after Crater hit McClinton in the face while guarding him.

Crater fell briefly to his knees in pain but remained in the game. The officials consulted a TV replay, then ejected McClinton.

“Obviously losing Jack hurt,” Miami coach Frank Haith said. “In those situations where there’s jawing back and forth, there’s got to be something both ways. I don’t know what happened, but it’s always the second guy that gets caught.”

Guards Hurdle, James Dews and Brian Asbury went 2-for-17 from 3-point range and combined for 10 turnovers while struggling to cope with Ohio State’s full-court pressure.

Miami committed turnovers on five consecutive possessions, allowing the Buckeyes to run off 13 straight points — six by Evan Turner — to cut the deficit to 38-37.

The Hurricanes rebuilt the margin to eight points before Ohio State made another charge. Turner’s layup with 7:28 left tied the game at 54, and the Buckeyes took their first lead on their next possession when Jeremie Simmons hit a 3-pointer.