Sans Sullinger, Ohio St. rolls past Pan American

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio State coach Thad Matta got his 300th career win without his star.

Evan Ravenel scored a career-high 11 points in place of Jared Sullinger and No. 2 Ohio State beat Texas Pan-American 64-35 Saturday.

Sullinger had back spasms during the Buckeyes’ win over third-ranked Duke on Tuesday night and will be re-evaluated before Ohio State (8-0) faces No. 15 Kansas in Lawrence.

Deshaun Thomas also had 11 points for the Buckeyes.

Matta improved to 300-88 over 12 seasons, the last eight at Ohio State where he is 198-57.

Matta is a bit of an expert on back injuries, having undergone several surgeries. He saw Sullinger’s MRI on Friday, which showed an aggravated disk.

“I feel as at that point I’m Dr. Thad because of all the rooms I’ve been in, all the operating rooms, recovery rooms,” he said. “Just as they were going through the testing I’m going, ‘That’s good, that’s good, that’s good’ and saying that from my own experiences.”

Matta said Sullinger will be reevaluated Monday or Tuesday but feels the injury won’t linger throughout the season. Sullinger has been averaging 19.1 points and 10.3 rebounds.

Jared Maree scored 13 points for the Broncs (2-7), who have lost the first three of a four-game road trip.

Texas-Pan American coach Ryan Marks was disappointed that Sullinger was not in the lineup.

“I think it was some mixed emotions because I think a lot of our guys would have like to say ‘Hey I played against that guy’, two or three years down the road,” he said.