COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Even the game clock and its operators weren't on the same page for a while.
It was Tuesday night at Value City Arena, and No. 5 Ohio State had just tipped off against Southeast Missouri State. Junior center Kaleb Wesson had won the tip, and the Buckeyes were setting up their offense when play was halted because the game clock wasn't working. A delay of nearly five minutes helped get it working, and five seconds was taken off the clock.
Things only got more bewildering. Two days after Ohio State took its first loss of the season when it fell at Minnesota, it got back on the winning track but didn't do it in convincing fashion. With a showdown against Kentucky looming Saturday in Las Vegas, the Buckeyes prevailed against the overmatched Redhawks 80-48.
When CJ Walker pressed an attack into three defenders and turned it over with 16:21 to play, it was his fifth turnover of the game and Ohio State's 16th _ a season high. Southeast Missouri (3-8), however, was staring at a 40-28 deficit, and that grew after it turned the ball over and Ohio State (10-1) capitalized with a three-point play from Kyle Young.
When the Buckeyes actually took care of the ball, they were pretty good. Ohio State finished with 23 assists on 30 made field goals, and it was only when the Buckeyes started passing the ball with some semblance of accuracy that they finally took control of the game.
Leading 25-19 with less than three minutes to play in the first half, sophomore guard Luther Muhammad found Alonzo Gaffney with a bounce pass from the top of the circle to the right block for an athletic finish behind the defense. One possession later, it was Gaffney who fed a streaking Young for a dunk.
Kaleb Wesson followed that with a layup off a feed from Young that didn't earn an assist, but Walker continued the run with a three-pointer off an extra Justin Ahrens pass. It was a 9-4 run, helping the Buckeyes to a 35-26 halftime lead.
It was more of the same in the second half as Ohio State led by as many as 38. It finished with 21 turnovers, but Southeast Missouri only turned them into three points.
After an Andre Wesson bucket on the opening possession (once the clock was fixed), the Buckeyes committed unforced turnovers on three straight possessions. Then when a Kaleb Wesson three-pointer broke the spell, the team's leading scorer slipped on the ensuing possession and went down in pain as his left knee bent awkwardly. A sickening silence fell over the crowd as trainers rushed out to check on him, but he was able to walk off the court under his own power and straight into the locker room.
He returned moments later, but it didn't immediately change the tenor of the game. At the half, Ohio State had committed 13 turnovers.
Kaleb Wesson recorded his fourth double-double of the year and the 10th of his career, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
