Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Associated Press
COLUMBUS
Florida was hitting 3-pointers and the crowd was surprisingly quiet. It was a telling moment for Ohio State.
“It seemed like it was going to be a long night,” Buckeyes guard Aaron Craft said.
But with William Buford scoring 21 points, No. 3 Ohio State survived the seventh-ranked Gators’ quick start for an 81-74 win on Tuesday night.
Jared Sullinger added 16 points, Deshaun Thomas scored 15 and Craft had 13 points and seven assists for the Buckeyes (2-0), who forced 16 turnovers and hit 27 of 34 free throws to lead by double figures for most of the final 20 minutes.
“I didn’t know how we were going to play tonight,” coach Thad Matta said of his team, which has just one senior (Buford) and one junior. “During the drive in the morning I was saying, ‘What if? What if?’ But I thought we played with good composure.”
Freshman Bradley Beal had 17 points, Kenny Boynton 15 and Patric Young and Erik Murphy 14 apiece for the Gators (1-1). Down as much as 16 points, they got as close as five with under a minute left before Buford sealed it with two foul shots.
“Obviously, we got off to a really good start, which I think you want to do on the road,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “The difference was our defense in the first half was really, really good. For a period of time there, shots were not going in for us and we needed to have a better resiliency in terms of understanding that we have to go back and play defense.”
One of the new starters for Ohio State is Craft, a sixth man as a freshman last season who usually ended up playing 35 minutes a game. Donovan said he was the difference in the game.
“Clearly he dominated the game from start to finish,” he said.
The Gators jumped out to an 11-4 lead and the Buckeyes appeared to be back on their heels. By scoring 13 of the last 18 points of the half, they took a 35-32 lead.
With Sullinger controlling the lane, Buford scoring from both outside and inside, and Craft seeming to get a hand on every Florida pass and have a hand on every Ohio State assist, they pulled away.