No. 15 Ohio State's 77-64 win clinches Big Ten/ACC Challenge

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Evan Turner had 25 points and 13 rebounds and Jon Diebler added 22 points to lead No. 15 Ohio State past No. 21 Florida State 77-64 on Wednesday night, clinching the Big Ten’s first victory in 11 years of its annual series with the ACC.

The conferences came into the night with three wins apiece in head-to-head matchups. Wisconsin’s 73-69 upset of No. 6 Duke set the stage for the Buckeyes (6-1) to put the Big Ten over the top, ending a decade of frustration against the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Reserve Jeremie Simmons added 14 points for the Buckeyes, who improved to just 3-5 in the annual series with the ACC, with another win vacated by NCAA violations in 2000.

At the end, after the Big Ten had won six of the 11 matchups, Ohio State’s student section chanted, “Big Ten! Big Ten!”

Solomon Alabi had 21 points for the Seminoles (6-2), perhaps road weary after playing their last six games away from home. Chris Singleton, the MVP of last weekend’s Old Spice Classic, fouled out with eight points and eight rebounds.

Derwin Kitchen had 12 points and Michael Snaer 10 as Florida State shot 41 percent from the field and had 20 turnovers.

Ahead 43-34 and with the Seminoles hanging around, the Buckeyes finally pulled away. Simmons hit a 3 from the right side off an assist from Turner. Turner then double-clutched on a short shot along the baseline and completed a three-point play. Simmons drilled another 3 and Kyle Madsen tipped in his own miss to swell the lead to 54-32.

Florida State never got closer than 11 points again.

The loudest roar after that might have come when Wisconsin’s victory was announced with just under 4 minutes remaining. The crowd of 13,514 knew what Ohio State’s impending win meant.

The teams combined to shoot just over 30 percent from the field, but the Buckeyes built a 31-20 halftime lead behind Diebler’s 3-pointers. The junior hit 5 of 8 from behind the arc for 15 points, while Turner added 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Florida State held sway along the frontcourt, but couldn’t hit anything from the perimeter and played fast and loose with the ball. The Seminoles had 12 turnovers — many unforced errors — to more than offset a 25-18 rebounding advantage.

They came in among the national leaders in defense, limiting their opponents to 33 percent shooting from the field. The Buckeyes, seventh in the country in accuracy from the field at 52.2 percent, mustered just 32 percent in the opening half but hit 7 of 16 3-pointers.

The Seminoles fell to 7-4 in the annual matchup with Big Ten teams.