Lighty leads OSU past Wisconsin

1/17/2010
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ohio State's Jon Diebler guards Wisconsin's Trevon Hughes in last night's game.
Ohio State's Jon Diebler guards Wisconsin's Trevon Hughes in last night's game.

COLUMBUS - David Lighty helped Ohio State weather Evan Turner's foul trouble, scoring 18 points to lead the Buckeyes to their second win over a ranked opponent this week, a 60-51 victory over No. 13 Wisconsin last night.

Turner had 15 points despite finishing with four fouls, and William Buford added 12 rebounds for the Buckeyes (13-5, 3-3 Big Ten), who have righted themselves after losing three of four while Turner was coming back from broken bones in his back.

Trevon Hughes had 18 points and Jason Bohannon 10 for the Badgers (14-4, 4-2), who struggled all night to find an inside presence on offense. They were playing their second game without second-leading scorer (15.4 ppg) and leading rebounder (6.2 rpg) Jon Leuer, who fractured his left wrist a week earlier.

The Buckeyes won at No. 6 Purdue 70-66 on Tuesday night.

Down 15 with just over eight minutes left, the Badgers trimmed the lead to seven in the final minutes but couldn't get closer.

The Buckeyes improved to 11-0 at home this season and 4-3 against ranked opponents - or 4-1 when Turner is in the lineup. He missed more than a month of the season, during which the Buckeyes went 3-3. One of those losses was a humiliating 65-43 rout at Wisconsin on New Year's Eve.

One of the keys to the rematch was that even with Turner sitting out the final 14 minutes of the first half with two fouls, the Buckeyes were able to turn a 10-9 deficit into a 12-point halftime lead.

The Buckeyes used a 15-4 run in the second half to take control.

They shot 52 percent from the field, made half of their six 3-point attempts and also outscored the Badgers - who only shot five free throws - by five points at the line.

Wisconsin made two charges, the first an 8-0 run to start the second half, but was never able to catch up.

The Buckeyes led 34-22 at the half, while shooting 59 percent from the field, but Turner was able to play only six minutes.

Ohio State built its lead with a late surge while Wisconsin had difficulty even getting the ball inside the 3-point arc.

With Wisconsin trailing 23-20 after Bohannon swished a 3 from the left corner with 5:17 left, the Buckeyes ran off 11 of the final 13 points of the half. Buford hit a

perimeter jumper to start the surge, with Lighty scoring the next nine points for the Buckeyes.