Ohio St. cruises in Big Ten opener over Northwestern

By Bob Baptist

The Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS

Jordan Sibert held up his shooting hand to reveal the upper half of his right middle finger, which was wrapped in black-and-white tape.

“‘Cheese’ kind of messed up my finger,” the Ohio State sophomore said, referring to teammate Aaron Craft by his nickname. “In practice the other day, he smacked my hand [and] tore some ligaments in my finger.”

Don’t think for a second, though, that it would cause Sibert not to play.

“We’re not going to fix it,” coach Thad Matta said.

That might be best after the way Sibert shot on Wednesday.

He and William Buford triggered an unexpected fusillade of 3-point baskets at Value City Arena that helped No. 2 Ohio State pull away early from Northwestern on the way to an 87-54 victory in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Buford had career highs of five three-pointers and 28 points to lead the Buckeyes (13-1). Sibert made four, half as many as he had in 13 non-conference games.

The Buckeyes made a season-high 10 after making less than a third in non-conference play. They ranked 10th among Big Ten teams in 3-point percentage.

“They shot the heck out of the ball,” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said.

Sullinger looked like his old self with 17 points and 14 rebounds in 22 minutes.