Dayton, OH

Deshaun Thomas scored 23 points while Sam Thompson had a career game as second seed Ohio State opened the first half with a 27-8 run en route to a 95-70 victory over Iona Friday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at University of Dayton Arena.

Thompson tallied 20 points and 10 boards, both career-best, for the Buckeyes, who fell behind 4-0 to start the game but seized control with a 27-4 run to take a commanding 27-8 lead.

The Gaels came within 37-33 late in the first half but Ohio State reasserted its might with a 15-0 run to take a 52-33 lead with 18 minutes left in the second half and cruise to an easy win.

The Buckeyes scored a season-high 95 points, fourth most by an OSU team in an NCAA tournament game. The team also tied a season best with 25 assists, the second most by a Buckeye team in a tournament game.

The win booked the Buckeyes (27-7) to a round-of-32 showdown with No. 10 Iowa State, which defeated Notre Dame, 76-58.

Ohio State enters the Iowa State game on a nine-game win streak, including five victories to close out the regular season and three wins in the Big Ten Tournament. Four of the wins were against ranked opponents and three were against Top 10 squads.

"Proud of our team. I thought that, when you play a team like Iona, they're never out of the basketball game, and just from the standpoint we got off to a pretty good start, give them credit, they got back on us," said Buckeyes coach Thad Matta after the game.

Matta drew 12 points from Lenzelle Smith Jr. , 11 markers from Evan Ravenel and seven points, seven rebounds and 10 assists from Shannon Scott.

Tavon Sledge led the Gaels (20-14) with 20 points while Sean Armand added 17. David Laury had 14 points and eight boards while Lamont Jones had nine for Iona.

Sam Thompson had career highs with 20 points and 10 rebounds on Friday night, part of a dominating performance by Ohio State's front line, and the Buckeyes ran away to a 95-70 victory over Iona in the second round of the West Regional

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Thomas and Thompson Power Ohio State to Easy Win over Iona