Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs Ohio St. Buckeyes Box Score on Dec 23, 2020

Ohio State's late 14-0 run lifted the No. 23 Buckeyes to an 80-68 victory against No. 11 Rutgers in Big Ten play at Columbus on Wednesday.

Three players for Ohio State (7-1, 1-1 Big Ten) had career highs in points: Duane Washington Jr. (22), E.J. Liddell (21) and Kyle Young (17).

Ron Harper Jr. led Rutgers (6-1, 2-1) with 20 points and Montez Mathis added 16.

Ohio State rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit and finally took the lead, 63-61, with 4:25 remaining in the game on a pair of free throws by Washington after a technical was called on Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell.

He was upset by the disparity of fouls called on his interior players compared with the Buckeyes.

Liddell followed with a jumper to make it 65-61 as part of the decisive run that put the game away.

Rutgers played without injured center Cliff Omoruyi, and backup Myles Johnson picked up his fourth foul five minutes into the second half and Rutgers up 16. The Scarlet Knights were ahead when he returned four minutes later, but he fouled out with 8:44 to play and Rutgers leading 59-52.

He played 15 minutes and Rutgers was plus-16 when he was on the court.

The Scarlet Knights' other big man, Mamadou Doucoure, returned for Johnson with four fouls and the Buckeyes pounded the ball inside, outscoring Rutgers 28-9 after Johnson left.

The Scarlet Knights had a 10-point halftime lead, but four quick points by Kyle Young made it 38-32 before Harper scored eight of the next 10 points for Rutgers to take a 48-32 lead.

Rutgers led 38-28 at the half.

The Buckeyes scored the first five points of the game, but that quickly became an afterthought. Rutgers was up 10-9 when it went on an 8-0 streak, fueled by five points from Harper and a triple by Jacob Young, for an 18-9 advantage with about 12 minutes to go.

Ohio State plays at Northwestern on Saturday. Rutgers hosts Purdue on Tuesday.

--Field Level Media