COLUMBUS — Jae’Sean Tate scored 16 points and No. 17 Ohio State took control early in cruising to a 71-56 win over Indiana on Tuesday night.
Kaleb Wesson added 14 points and Keita Bates-Diop had 13 points and 13 rebounds as the Buckeyes (19-5, 10-1 Big Ten) bounced back from last week’s buzzer-beater loss to Penn State that dropped them three places in the AP Top 25 poll.
Devonte Green scored 20 for the Hoosiers (12-11, 5-6), who have lost three in a row and four of five. Indiana, playing its fourth game in eight days, shot just 36.4 percent from the floor after hitting better than 50 percent of its shots the past three games.
The Hoosiers struggled on defense, too. They had trouble stopping Wesson when he went to the basket in the lane. Ohio State scored 40 points in the paint.
Zach McRoberts hit two quick jump shots, one of them a 3-pointer, in the first 1:14 to put the Hoosiers up by one, but Ohio State reeled off 10 straight points and didn’t relinquish the lead again.
The Buckeyes led 38-23 at halftime on 5-for-5 shooting by Wesson. Indiana couldn’t get any closer than 12 the rest of the way.
Bowling Green 66, Ohio 50
BOWLING GREEN — Demajeo Wiggins had 18 points and 11 rebounds as Bowling Green sprinted to an early lead and then coasted to a win over Ohio to halt a three-game skid in Mid-American Conference action.
Bowling Green (13-9, 4-5), which matched its win total from last season, was up 21-6 at the 9:26 mark and took a 41-19 lead into the break. The Falcons held a 60-42 advantage with 3:52 left in the game.
Teyvioin Kirk had 20 points, seven rebounds and three steals to lead Ohio (9-12, 2-7), which has lost six of its last seven games.
Kent State 82, Buffalo 79
KENT — Danny Pippen scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Adonis De La Rosa had 20 points, six boards and five assists and Kent State (12-10, 6-3 MAC) completed an 18-point comeback to beat first-place Buffalo (16-6, 8-1).
Ball State 75, Toledo 63
TOLEDO — Tahjai Teague had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Ball State beat to snap the Rockets’ seven-game win streak.
Toledo (15-7, 7-2 Mid-American Conference) missed out on a chance to pull into a first-place tie with conference leader Buffalo (16-6, 8-1), which lost to Kent State 82-79. Ball State (14-8, 5-4) has won back-to-back games.
Teague was 10-of-19 shooting and capped the scoring with a dunk. Tayler Persons added 16 points and eight assists and Trey Moses chipped in 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Tre’Shaun Fletcher had 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to lead Toledo. Jaelan Sanford had 14 points and Luke Knapke chipped in 11.
Ball State opened the game with a 30-13 run and had a double-digit lead for most of the second half. Nate Navigato’s 3-pointer pulled the Rockets to 53-47 with 9:35 to play, but they didn’t get closer.
