Written by David Regimbal

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The No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes improved to 4-0 on the season Friday night, defeating the Missouri-Kansas City Roos 91-45 in Columbus.

The Buckeyes dominated early, starting the game with a 20-3 run where every member of Ohio State’s starting five scored. The Roos came out ice cold from the field, missing their first eight shots and 12 of their first 15. With about five minutes left to go in the first half, UMKC was never able to get the deficit below 20 points as the Buckeyes cruised to the 46-point victory.

“I was excited to see our guys play from start to finish,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “Going into the game we didn’t want Kansas City to be comfortable on offense because they run their offense very well. We had to disrupt them, and I thought our guys did that very well.”

Very well indeed.

The Roos shot just 25.5 percent from the field against the Buckeyes and hit just one of their 15 3-point attempts. No UMKC player scored more than seven points, and Ohio State blocked 10 shot attempts.

“When we’re all playing good ‘D’, we get excited,” Deshaun Thomas said after the game. “It really helps to improve our offense, especially the transition game.”

The Buckeyes turned 18 UMKC turnovers into 23 points on the other end.

That was just one reason for Ohio State’s success on offense Friday night. The Buckeyes assisted on 21 of their 31 made baskets and hit nine of their 16 3-point attempts (56 percent). Ohio State had even more success inside as the Buckeyes shoot 61 percent from the field against the Roos.

“We knew we had another gear in us,” Thomas said. “When we got up big, we kept our foot on the gas, kept playing hard as a team, and it showed.”

Thomas led all scorers with 21 points, hitting six of his eight shots from the field to go along with eight rebounds. Lenzelle Smith, Jr. hit three 3-pointers on his way to 13 points, while Sam Thompson and LaQuinton Ross both added 11 points each.

It was reserve point guard Shannon Scott who was most impressive, though. Scott set career-highs with 10 points and 10 assists in just 24 minutes of action against UMKC. The sophomore guard also grabbed three rebounds, snagged two steals and committed just one turnover. Scott really pushed the ball, and the tempo, while recording the first double-double of his career.

Scott has really improved his play since his freshman season, and he talked about that after the game, “I think the biggest thing is that I’ve calmed down a lot from last year. At times last year I got anxious, but now I’m letting the game come to me.”

After beating UMKC, the Buckeyes can finally turn their attention to one of the biggest non-conference games of the year. The next game on the schedule for Ohio State is its ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchup with the Duke Blue Devils.

Ohio State destroyed Duke 85-63 in Columbus last season, but this year’s game will be played at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

The players are looking forward to a hostile environment, “It’s going to be a great experience,” Scott said. “Their fans are wild and it is a crazy environment. I’m looking forward to it.”

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