COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The question seemed a simple one.
Just what, Jackson State coach Tevester Anderson was asked, did his team get out of an 85-41 beating at the hands of third-ranked Ohio State on Friday night?
“Money,” Anderson said, bringing down the house.
“That’s absolutely right,” he continued with a laugh. “You wonder why we take these beatings like this. We don’t have a great athletic budget like Ohio State or any Big Ten teams. I coached in the SEC for something like 17 years and we didn’t have to play these kinds of games.”
Jared Sullinger had 20 points and 11 rebounds in little more than a half and the Buckeyes used an 18-0 blitz to roll over the Tigers.
Deshaun Thomas, William Buford and Jordan Sibert each had 11 points for the Buckeyes (3-0), who were coming off an 81-74 victory over No. 7 Florida, also in the Global Sports Shootout.
All 12 players on the roster saw action, with 11 scoring and all 12 grabbing a rebound.
No wonder Anderson said he voted the Buckeyes No. 1 on his coaches’ poll ballot this week.
“Seeing them close up tonight, it didn’t change my mind at all,” he said. “They’ll get my vote all along.”
The Tigers still led 11-10 after 6 minutes, but then the Buckeyes turned the game into a dunk-a-thon.
Picking up 23 points off of Jackson State’s 16 turnovers in the opening half, the Buckeyes took control and never looked back to build a 46-17 lead at the half. The turning point was the 18-0 run covering a 5-minute span with Sullinger scoring nine points and Sibert adding five.
Aaron Craft only had two points in the spurt, but he forced five turnovers and had two assists. He finished with four assists, five steals and the one bucket in 17 minutes but helped turn the game into a rout.
“One thing we had to do was get us going, get us up-tempo and the best way to do that is to get some steals on defense,” Craft said. “To get some easy baskets, and we were fortunate enough to do that.”
A school like we are and a conference we’re in and our budget is very small so we go on the road like the Globetrotters and make some money but we don’t run into the Wash Generals at all. So we have to play these tough guys.
Kelsey Howard scored 17 points for Jackson State (0-4), which had 26 turnovers – which resulted in 41 points for Ohio State.
“One of the things we felt like we could do was try to score off of our defense,” coach Thad Matta said. “We were pretty successful with that once we got going.”
The Buckeyes scored 32 of the first 45 points in the second half while substituting liberally.
Sullinger finished 7 of 9 from the field and 6 of 7 at the line. He only played just one minute in the second half.
“I love watching this team play, especially the young guys that don’t play a lot,” he said. “At the same time, it was pretty awesome to kind of sit the bench for a little bit.”
The loss dropped Anderson’s record at Jackson State to 131-132. The Tigers were expected to struggle somewhat this season, since they lost two of their top three scorers and their top four rebounders from last year’s team.
Anderson said his team’s plight matched that of another famous band of players who seldom playing at home.
“We go on the road like the Globetrotters and make some money but we don’t run into the Washington Generals at all,” he said. “So we have to play these tough guys.”
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Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rustymillerap.
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