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Velimir Radinovic scored 16 points and Ohio State turned its lineup upside down to beat Eastern Illinois 69-50 on Tuesday night.
Coach Jim O'Brien shook things up at the outset to turn things around for Ohio State (6-4), which had 10 players score.
The Buckeyes were embarrassed 75-59 by Seton Hall on Saturday, although their bench scored 36 points.
Thoroughly displeased with the defense, shot selection and effort of his first unit, O'Brien started a lineup against Eastern Illinois (1-7) that included Radinovic, three former walk-ons and a seldom-used big man, Matt Marinchick. Other than Radinovic, a senior captain, the other starters had a combined 19 games this season in which they had not played at all.
Nick Dials and Ugo Nwankwo each hit 3-pointers and Nwankwo added another basket as the Buckeyes broke out to an 11-7 lead.
Shortly before
a timeout at the 15:21 mark, the five players who usually start for Ohio State
stood up and headed for the scorer's table to check in. Most in a crowd of 13,180
booed loudly.
As the five stand-in starters left the floor, they received a lengthy standing
ovation.
The Buckeyes led 36-21 at the half, totaling nine assists -- five more than they had in the entire Seton Hall game.
Dials opened the second half with a 3-pointer and Ohio State went on to lead by as many as 22 points. The Buckeyes shot 55 percent from the field in the second half and topped 50 percent (51.1) in a game for only the fourth time this season.
Aaron Patterson scored 15 points for the Panthers, who lost their third in a row.
Dials finished with nine points on 3-of-6 3-pointers, while Nwankwo had five and Marinchick three points.
Brandon Fuss-Cheatham, Ricardo Billings and Ivan Harris each added seven points and Tony Stockman had six.
The Buckeyes finished with a season-best 17 assists.