Buckeyes crush Louisiana-Monroe

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

So much for the undercard.

Now No. 3 Ohio State must take on the heavyweights in the main events remaining on its schedule.

Lenzelle Smith Jr. scored 17 points and LaQuinton Ross added 15 to lead the Buckeyes past overmatched and undermanned Louisiana-Monroe 71-31 on Friday night.

An announced crowd of 18,534 didn’t see much drama after the Buckeyes rolled to a big lead — scoring the first 12 points of the game and the first 15 of the second half — to turn it into a landslide. Many left before the end.

Not even the players really enjoy playing such lopsided games.

“The better competition, the more exciting the games are for us,” Ross said. “Sometimes during the non-conference as you play some of these teams that are not as good as you are, you actually play down to [their level]. That’s not good for teams. That’s not what you’re supposed to do. Definitely when we come out in Big Ten play, it’s going to be teams that are just as good as us and we’re going to have to play better.”

Amedeo Della Valle chipped in with 14 points for the Buckeyes (13-0), who have won their first 13 games in a season for the fifth time in school history (1961, ‘62, ‘91 and 2011).

Ohio State opens Big Ten play on Dec. 31 at Purdue. After not facing a ranked opponent up to now, the Buckeyes will be tested by the likes of No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 5 Michigan State, No. 22 Iowa and the rest of the conference’s bullies.

“We tell our guys, ‘You’ve got 18 battles coming up [and] the war’s decided in March,”’ coach Thad Matta said. “Just from the standpoint of the challenges that lie ahead, that’s what guys sign up for when they come to play at Ohio State. There’s going to be some tremendous battles every night we take the floor.”

Smith said if the non-conference season did anything, it marked the Buckeyes as a team that no opponent will overlook.

“Everybody else is watching now,” he said. “Everybody can’t wait to knock us off in the Big Ten.”

Jayon James led the Warhawks (3-5) with eight points.