The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (12-1) wrapped up their non-conference schedule by beating the Miami RedHawks 69-40 in Columbus Thursday night.

William Buford led the Buckeyes with 18 points, four rebounds and three assists. With his performance, Buford became just the fourth Buckeye basketball player to exceed 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. His 18 points also moved him up the Ohio State record books as the seventh highest scorer in school history, surpassing Perry Carter with 1,629 career points.

“It feels great to be even in the category with those people,” Buford said. He later added, “I don’t care about scoring and statistics as long as we win.”

Deshaun Thomas scored 15 points -- his 12th consecutive game scoring in double figures. After looking limited against Lamar coming off a foot injury, Jared Sullinger seemed more like his old self and added 11 points in six rebounds.

It looked like Ohio State was going to buck their recent trend of slow starts when they came out and made five of their first six shots against Miami. It took the Buckeyes less than four minutes to build an 11-0 lead as they stifled Miami’s already inept offense. But just like many of Ohio State’s December games, the shots started clanking off the rim. The team went on to miss 16 of their final 21 shot attempts in the half, and aside from Buford (who connected on 5-10 for 11 points), no one was able to find a rhythm on offense. The Buckeyes finished the half shooting just 11-28 from the field (39%) and 1-8 from 3-point land.

Ohio State finally got their reckoning with the NCAA Committee on Infractions, and the primary penalty is a one-year ban on postseason play that will be effective for the 2012 season. The COI also added four additional scholarship losses to the five already self-imposed by OSU, for a total of nine, to be taken over a three-year period.

The penalty was a blow to the university, not so much because it was beyond what people thought possible, but more because their Athletic Director had become convinced that no ban would be imposed, and Gene Smith’s assurances had guided the program’s decision-making in recent months. Included in that process was their decision to play in a minor bowl game this season rather than self-impose a ban for this year, and possibly get it out of the way.  

Also acting on confident assurances emanating from the athletic director’s office, Urban Meyer took the Ohio State job, and several talented recruits bought into the prevailing wisdom. Meyer’s not going anywhere, but he might lose a commit or two over this.

It was ugly -- and at times it was flat out painful to watch -- but the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1) were able to put away the Lamar Cardinals with a 70-50 victory in Columbus Tuesday night.

Jared Sullinger started against Lamar after bruising his left foot in Saturday’s game against South Carolina, and the sophomore big man finished the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Sullinger made seven straight shots to close the game after missing three of his first four from the field, a performance that resulted in his sixth double-double of the season and 24th of his career.

The Buckeyes probably could have won the game without Sullinger, but after suffering back spasms that kept him out of two games earlier this month, he felt obligated to play, “I missed too much with the back spasms and now with the foot. I have to get back in a routine,” Sullinger said. “I can’t sit here and wait for it to heal. By that time I won’t have my timing down defensively and offensively. I had to get back as soon as possible.”

It didn’t feel like a 20 point victory despite the fact that Lamar never really had a chance. That was mainly due to Ohio State’s inconsistency on offense as the Buckeyes went through long stretches of the game without a basket. Despite shooting 45% on the night, the offense went through lapses and the effort we’re used to seeing from the Buckeyes just wasn’t there tonight.