After escape, No. 15 Ohio State faces Youngstown State

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Never let it be said that basketball players aren't tough guys.

Ohio State's Andre Wesson crashed face-first onto the court early in the second half of Saturday's game against Bucknell and lost three front teeth in the process. Before heading to the locker room after the nasty fall, Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann found one tooth after stepping on it.

"I didn't know it was three," Holtmann said.

But that wasn't the end of Wesson's day. Trainers fitted him for a mouthguard, he shrugged off the pain and came back with just 3:08 having elapsed from the scoreboard clock.

The junior forward went on to finish with a career-high nine rebounds and help No. 15 Ohio State hold on for a 73-71 victory over Bucknell in a closer-than-expected test.

Wesson will be back in action Tuesday night when Ohio State (9-1) plays host to in-state opponent Youngstown State (4-8) at Value City Arena.

Holtmann said Monday that Wesson likely will have more dental work done on Wednesday and should be ready for Saturday's date with UCLA in Chicago.

"He's fine and able to do everything that we need him to do," Holtmann said.

Wesson's younger brother, Kaleb, joked after the game as only a sibling could, "Ain't nothing wrong with him."

Kaleb Wesson played a big part in the narrow escape against Bucknell with a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double.

Ohio State had trouble putting away Bucknell after faltering near the end of both halves. The Buckeyes fell behind at halftime after leading by 12 in the opening half and then nearly frittered away an 11-point lead in the final four minutes of the game.

"I feel like toward the end of halves we either get passive or we're just trying to close it out to where we're trying to get to the halftime or to the end of the game," Kaleb Wesson said

Holtmann was relieved the Buckeyes were able to hold on and avoid the upset.

"Those are great learning opportunities," he said. "Thank God it happened after a win. But if you can really appreciate that experience and learn from it, it will be worthwhile. That's why we schedule games like that. They really challenged us in a lot of areas."

Youngstown State might not be as much of a challenge as Bucknell. The Penguins can score, averaging 78.1 points per game, but they're one of the lowest-ranked teams in the country defensively, giving up 82.2 points per game.

Garrett Covington is the only Youngstown State player averaging in double figures at 12.8 points per game. Three others average between 8.6 and 9.9 points.

Former West Virginia assistant Jerrod Calhoun is in his second season as head coach at Youngstown State, which ended a four-game losing streak with a 58-48 victory over Binghamton on Saturday for the Penguins' first road win of the season.

"We're young in a lot of areas and this group can only get better," Calhoun said.

Youngstown State has never beaten a Top 25 team since it moved up to Division I in 1981-82 and is 0-18 against Big Ten opponents.