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Little drama seen in Ohio St. victory

Ohio State's LaQuinton Ross, left, grabs a rebound from Louisiana-Monroe's Evan Sims during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Dec. 27, 2013, in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State defeated Louisiana-Monroe 71-31. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
Ohio State's LaQuinton Ross, left, grabs a rebound from Louisiana-Monroe's Evan Sims during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Dec. 27, 2013, in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State defeated Louisiana-Monroe 71-31. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - 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, 1962, 1991 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.”

The Buckeyes won each of their first 11 games by double digits. They had far from an easy time of it in their most recent game.

Down by eight points in the last minute, they went on a 14-3 run over the last 48 seconds to beat Notre Dame 64-61 on Dec. 21 at Madison Square Garden in the finale of the Black Rock Gotham Classic. In that game they scored 17 points in the first 19:12 of the second half and 14 in those last decisive 48 seconds.

“We got a win but we didn’t execute and we didn’t do the things that we needed to do in the Garden,” Smith said. “Today was about establishing ourselves. We know what’s getting ready to come down the pipeline starting in the Big Ten. … So we just wanted to come out strong, get back to our system and what works for us, and being on top of our game.”

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.”

Friday night’s game was a mismatch of epic proportions.

Jayon James led the Warhawks (3-5), who have lost their last four, with eight points. They hit just 19 percent of their shots from the field (10 of 54) and 17 percent on three-pointers (3 of 18).

Ohio State came into the game fifth in the nation in scoring defense (55.9 points) and 13th in field goal percentage defense (.379).

They went a long way toward padding those numbers while holding the Warhawks to 20 points on 23.3 percent shooting in the opening half.

The game was never in doubt after Ohio State bolted to a 12-0 lead in the opening 4 minutes.

The Warhawks didn’t score until Tylor Ongwae hit a baseline drive at the 15:34 mark.

In another top 25 game Friday, James Michael McAdoo scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to help No. 19 North Carolina beat Northern Kentucky 75-60. Marcus Paige and Leslie McDonald added 11 points each for the Tar Heels (9-3), who never trailed after opening the game with a 14-2 run. Northern Kentucky trailed 44-37 early in the second half before North Carolina went on a 12-3 spurt to blow open the game. McAdoo scored 10 points during the decisive stretch, making three shots inside and hitting four consecutive free throws. Tyler White scored 13 points to lead the Norse (4-8), whose three-game winning streak ended. Jalen Billups added 12 points, and Jack Flournoy and Jordan Jackson had 10 points apiece for Northern Kentucky, which shot 33 percent from the field, including 5 of 23 from three-point range.

Sports, Pages 28 on 12/28/2013

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