Jared Sullinger, Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team look unstoppable in rout of South Carolina

Ohio State rolls over South Carolina to improve to 10-0, and the first loss for the Buckeyes could be more than a month away.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Saturday felt something like an official introduction of the Ohio State basketball team to its fans. Backers of the Buckeyes, this is what a Final Four contender looks like up close and personal.

Playing its first home game of the season against a major conference team, playing before the second crowd of more than 15,000 fans, playing a nationally televised game on CBS, No. 2 Ohio State rolled overmatched South Carolina, 79-57, behind another monster game from freshman big man Jared Sullinger, who had 30 points and 19 rebounds.

"I think we had our minds right before the game started and we came out and executed the game-plan to a T," senior David Lighty said.

The crowd responded to every dunk, transition layup and drive through traffic, and after road wins over Florida and Florida State, the Buckeyes (10-0) responded to legitimate home enthusiasm. One-third of the way into the regular season, during a football lull, the fans seemed to fully accept that a lot more games like this are ahead.

Sullinger is the best freshman in the nation and one of the best five players; Lighty, Jon Diebler and William Buford are all 1,000-point career scorers; OSU coach Thad Matta proudly pointed out that every starter is from Ohio; and guess what . . . basketball season is here.

"As a team we've been excited since summertime," senior center Dallas Lauderdale said. "When we're able to put all our talent together, we have a pretty special team."

Now here's what basketball players can't talk about without risking the wrath of their coach. It should be another good month before the Buckeyes lose their first game.

At 10-0, they're one of nine undefeated teams in the country and off to the second-best start in Matta's seven seasons, behind the 11-0 start in 2005-06. The only better starts for the Buckeyes were 17-0 in 1990-91; 22-0 in 1961-62; and 27-0 in 1960-61, when the Buckeyes didn't lose until the NCAA championship game against Cincinnati.

Here's what's ahead for the Buckeyes: UNC Asheville, Oakland and Tennessee-Martin in nonconference games, and then at Indiana, at Iowa, Minnesota, at Michigan, Penn State and Iowa to start the Big Ten. There are always banana peels out there for teams that relax, but the first real test looks to be at Illinois on Jan. 22, when the Buckeyes would be 19-0.

A lot of that is thanks to the schedule, which has been easier in the nonconference than the schedule of some other top teams, and is backloaded in the conference slate with Big Ten contenders. Some of it is because when the Buckeyes are on, they're very tough to guard. So far, Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis and South Carolina have chosen to give up the inside and focus on the perimeter and in those games, Sullinger has scored a combined 70 points.

"If you try to take it all away, you end up taking nothing away," South Carolina coach Darrin Horn said. "We conceded he could have a good game."

That strategy might not last much longer. Averaging 18.5 points and 9.6 rebounds just 10 games into his career, even Sullinger can't believe how much damage he's caused.

"I really thought I was going to come in and rebound and that's about it," Sullinger said. "I was expecting double-teams, but with my teammates with their ability to shoot, it's really hard to double-team."

It's also really hard to beat the Buckeyes.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: dlesmerises@plaind.com, 216-999-4479