Thad Matta felt his Ohio State team had higher intensity in its morning practice than in its afternoon game, but that did not stop the Buckeyes from controlling the majority of play against Rutgers. Keita Bates-Diop tied a career-high with 24 points and had a career-high 14 rebounds as Ohio State defeated Rutgers, 79-69 on Saturday. “This is first team I’ve ever had in 16 years as a head coach that actually practiced harder this morning at shoot-around at 9 o’clock, than we played in the game today, for whatever reason,” Matta said. “But we got what we came for and that was the win. We did not play smart today.” Jae’Sean Tate added 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting and 13 rebounds for the Buckeyes (16-10, 8-5 Big Ten), marking the sixth time this season they have had two players with double-doubles. Kam Williams added 19 for OSU, which kept its flickering NCAA hopes alive with a second straight victory. Williams, who hit four 3-pointers in the second half, feels OSU must focus on the moment at hand, rather than the tournament. “We know we’ve got to keep chipping away every day in practice and if we keep having good practices we obviously need to translate it over to the game,” he said. “It’s a game-by-game mentality. We can’t look to a game two weeks ahead.” Corey Sanders had 23 points for the Scarlet Knights (6-19, 0-12), who have lost 26 straight Big Ten games and 27 including the conference tournament. Mike Williams added 13 and D.J. Foreman had 10. …
Continue Reading: Bates-Diop’s double-double leads Ohio State Past Rutgers
