COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Keita Bates-Diop scored a career-high 24 points and Ohio State won its fourth straight with a 73-57 victory against South Carolina on Sunday night.Senior forward Gabriel McCray had 17 points and sophomore guard Ed Stephens scored 11 for South Carolina State (5-9) in the loss.
Bates-Diop was 8-for-14 from the floor, including 5-of-9 on 3-pointers, and tied a career-high with 10 rebounds.
Bates-Diop was the story in the first half, scoring 17 points to top his previous best in a half by one. He made 5-of-7 3-pointers while his teammates missed all eight tries from beyond the arc and the Buckeyes held a 34-21 halftime lead.
Kam Williams added 12 points for Ohio State (8-5), and Trevor Thompson had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs were ahead 15-11 nine minutes into the game but went cold from there, enduring a four-minute drought that enabled Ohio State to reel off eight straight points.
After a bank shot by forward DouDou Gueye drew South Carolina State to within 19-17, Bates-Diop connected on consecutive 3s off assists by Marc Loving to make it 25-17. Bates-Diop added two more treys in the final 2:15 of the half.
South Carolina State opened the second-half with six straight points, four by McCray, to cut the deficit to 34-27 before a Ja'Quan Lyle's mid-range floater restored a nine-point advantage.
The Bulldogs forced 14 turnovers, while finishing with ten answered points. Meanwhile, The Buckeyes also blocked nine shots, six coming in the first-half.
Junior guard Eric Eaves finished with eight points, while sophomore forward Tashombe Riley added five points and a team-high eight rebounds.
UP NEXT: South Carolina State resume play in the second of a three-game Midwest swing at Akron on Wednesday (Dec.30). Tip-off is 7 p.m.
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COURTESY SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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