Ohio State holds off Rutgers behind Williams' career night

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Kam Williams had 23 points and Trevor Thompson added 15 points and 13 rebounds as Ohio State beat Rutgers 70-64 on Wednesday night.

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Williams hit a 3-pointer and a subsequent foul shot to break a 62-62 tie at 1:05 after Rutgers had overcame a 12-point deficit. After Ohio State's Jae-Sean Tate missed a pair of foul shots, Rutgers' Deshawn Freeman tipped in a rebound to cut the lead to two, but the Scarlet Knights ran out of time.

Corey Sanders led Rutgers with 17 points but fouled out with just under five minutes left in the game. The Scarlet Knights (13-12, 2-10) lost their 10th Big Ten game of the season against a pair of conference wins.

Ohio State (15-10, 5-7 Big Ten) won its second straight and is still holding out hope it can get back to the NCAA Tournament after missing the cut last season.

With the game tied at 10 with 13:23 left in the first half, Ohio State went on a 10-2 run, led by as many as 11 and held a 33-27 advantage at halftime. Tate had 11 points in the first 20 minutes, missing just one shot, but he wouldn't score again, missing the two foul shots down the stretch.

The Buckeyes prevailed despite turning the ball over 15 times, leading to 19 Rutgers points.

BIG PICTURE:

Rutgers: The Big Ten cellar-dwellers lost after getting only their second conference win of the season last weekend. Rutgers has just five total Big Ten wins since joining the conference in 2014-15.

Ohio State: The Buckeyes won a game they were expected to win, which is a positive sign in a disappointing up-and-down season.

UP NEXT:

Rutgers: Returns home for a game against Minnesota Saturday.

Ohio State: Plays at No. 21 Maryland on Saturday afternoon.