PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 14 points and Ohio State never trailed in a 73-51 romp over Rutgers to close out the Big Ten Conference regular season.
Ohio State (19-12, 9-11) finished the season with a four-game winning streak under acting head coach Jake Diebler and earned the No. 10 seed in the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament this week in Minneapolis. The Buckeyes will play Iowa on Thursday.
Gayle made 6 of 11 shots with two 3-pointers for the Buckeyes, adding five rebounds. Bruce Thornton totaled 11 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Felix Okpara and Jamison Battle both scored 10 with Okpara grabbing eight boards.
Aundre Hyatt led Rutgers with 11 points. Clifford Omoruyi finished with 10 points and seven rebounds before fouling out with 7:12 remaining in his final home game for the Scarlet Knights (15-16, 7-13).
Rutgers has lost three in a row and six of its last seven heading into the conference tournament that begins on Wednesday.