OSU now 2-0

COLUMBUS » Ohio State got a victory and some teaching points from its 82-72 win over Radford on Sunday.

The Buckeyes (2-0) faced a strong rebounding team and held a 45-33 advantage on the boards, and also weathered the Radford (1-1) press to an extent.

“Give Radford a lot of credit. I thought they did some really good things to challenge us today in a lot of ways.” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “We’re not a pressing team so we don’t see a lot of that in practice. This was a good chance to go against it.”

Keita Bates-Diop had his second strong performance on his path to injury recovery with 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Buckeyes.

C.J. Jackson added 19 points and Jae’Sean Tate had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Buckeyes (2-0), who led 44-34 at the half. OSU was up by 26 in the second half before Radford had a late flurry in the final four minutes but the outcome was not in doubt.

Jackson had a nervy start with four early turnovers but Holtmann, in his first season after replacing Thad Matta, is developing an understanding how his guard plays.

“I was trying to make the home-run play,” Jackson said. “Once he pulled me to the side, he said hit singles and that’s what I tried to do when I came back in.”

Jackson finished with seven turnovers, six rebounds and three assists.

Carlik Jones led Radford (1-1) with 19 points and Randy Phillips scored 12.

Bates-Diop, who missed all but nine games last season with a stress fracture in his left leg, had 19 points and 11 rebounds in the season-opening 95-64 win over Robert Morris.