With his team playing its second game without injured wing David Lighty, Ohio State men’s basketball coach Thad Matta continued to experiment with various lineup combinations.

He opted to start seldom used center Kyle Madsen as well as freshman wing William Buford. He played big men B.J. Mullens and Dallas Lauderdale together. He played point guard Anthony Crater and Jeremie Simmons together.

Out of all that experimentation, though, Matta may have witnessed the long-awaited breakout game for one of his young stars.

Mullens, OSU’s freshman center and former McDonald’s All-American, enjoyed by far his biggest game to date as a Buckeye with 19 points and eight rebounds rebounds as the 15th-ranked Buckeyes rolled to a 83-59 win over UNC Asheville Monday night before 13,317 at Value City Arena.

The 7-0 Mullens came into the game averaging just 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He ended up hitting 8 of 11 shots from the floor and 3 of 5 at the foul line. He also had three blocked shots for the Buckeyes (9-0), who put four players in double figures.

"It's definitely getting easier as time goes on," Mullens said. "I want to thank my teammates for making outside shots to help open up the middle. That helped my game tonight."

Guard Evan Turner continued his stellar play with 17 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Buford earned his first start. He added 16 points and seven rebounds for OSU. He was 6 of 14 from the floor, including 2 of 6 on three-pointers.

"Coach felt I was ready," Buford said. "I was ready to go out and play. I always try to come out with the same mind-set. I want to come out and help my teammates win."

Center Dallas Lauderdale came off the bench to provide 11 points and seven rebounds.

Matta discussed his rationale for all of the tinkering.

"We have got to continue to hammer home to this basketball team that we are looking for guys who will come out and play to the best of their talent," Matta said.

When asked which of his lineups excelled, Matta said, "We had so many different ones out there, I can't remember."

Forward John Williams led UNC Asheville with 10 points, while guard Matt Dickey and forward Jason Ridenhour each had nine. OSU held the Bulldogs (4-8) to 35.4 percent shooting from the floor (23 of 65).

Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach's team has logged one win over Division I competition this year with a win over Liberty. His Bulldogs have dropped games to top-25 powers North Carolina, Duke and Tennessee already this year.

"This is a good game for us," Biedenbach said. "This is the type of team you have to play to get better. If we end up winning our league and making the NCAA or the NIT like last year, these are the kinds of teams you will play. This is a very good Ohio State basketball team."

Mullens came off the bench and had 13 points and six rebounds in the first half as the Buckeyes built a 37-24 halftime lead.                                                                                   

The Buckeyes jumped out to a 17-4 lead seven minutes into the game. The early spurt was keyed by three-point shots from Diebler, Turner and Buford. Mullens tallied off an alley oop from Diebler, Turner had a driving layup and Mullens added two free throws as OSU went up 17-4 with 13:46 left in the first half.

"I think the difference between this game and the last game and the one before it is we didn't come out ready to go maybe in those games," Turner said. "Coach Matta really stressed that we needed to have a bite to us tonight."

UNC Asheville answered with Sean Hobbs scoring on a jam and a three-pointer from J.P. Primm to cut it to 17-9 with 11:44 left in the half.

The Buckeyes answered with a 10-3 run, including a pair of Mullens jams off assists from Crater, a driving layup by Walter Offutt, a Mullens tip-in and a layup by Kyle Madsen, for a 27-12 lead with 6:48 left in the first half.

But the Buckeyes struggled after Turner went to the bench with his second foul of the game. Asheville ripped off a 9-0 run as Matt Dickey hit a three, Eric Stubbs had a tip and John Williams added a jam and a rebound basket. The Bulldogs cut the lead to 27-21 with 4:12 left in the half.

Buford stemmed that run with a pair of free throws with 3:45 left. But Primm’s trey got Asheville within five at 29-24 with 3:07 left in the half.

But the Buckeyes finished the half in fine fashion, going on an 8-0 run. Mullens had a three-point play off a feed in transition by Diebler. Buford canned a three after an offensive rebound. Lauderdale capped it with a jam off an assist from Jeremie Simmons as the Buckeyes built their 37-24 halftime lead.

"Fortunately, we were able to get a double-digit lead going into halftime," Turner said. "We built some great confidence. Coming out of halftime, it was like a snowball and it just started rolling."

Ohio State wasted no time adding to its lead with a 13-5 run to start the second half. Mullens opened it with  a jam inside. Buford then added a driving jumper in the lane. After Asheville’s Reid Augst hit a three, Turner answered with a drive into the lane. The run continued with a Mullens jam, a Turner three-point play and a breakaway jam by Crater on the fast break as OSU surged ahead 50-29 with 15:41 left in the game.

An 11-1 Ohio State run ended any doubt about this one. Mullens started it with a jam off a feed from Turner. Buford then had a rebound basket, Lauderdale had a left-handed flip shot and scored again inside. Lauderdale had a jam off a Turner feed. Offutt capped the run with a free throw to give OSU a 63-34 lead with 11:20 left. The 29-point lead would be OSU’s largest of the night.

The Buckeyes substituted liberally in the final 10 minutes as Asheville got as close as 18, but could draw no closer.

Also Notable

* The game was a rematch from last year’s NIT opener, which OSU won 84-66. The only other previous meetings between the schools was in 1993 with OSU taking a 93-59 win.

* The win Saturday marks the 12th-consecutive victory in Columbus for the Buckeyes. This is the second-longest home win streak for Ohio State under head coach Thad Matta after his 2006-07 team won 29-consecutive home games.

* Ohio State has won the last 54 games in Columbus vs. unranked opponents, 50 of which have been played at Value City Arena.

* Matta is 65-1 vs. unranked opponents in Columbus since taking over the Ohio State program in 2004-05. The only loss was an overtime setback to Minnesota Jan. 19, 2005 (60-56).

* Ohio State has not lost in Columbus as a ranked team to an unranked non-conference opponent since a 76-67 setback to South Alabama Dec. 16, 1980. The Buckeyes were ranked No. 7 in that game.

* Ohio State has the nation’s longest win streak at 14 games after five-consecutive victories to end the 2007-08 season and victories in the first eight games this year. Ohio State won the 2008 National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.

* Matta improved his career record to 216-66 in his ninth season as a head coach ...  He is 114-35 in his fifth year at Ohio State ... Matta has started the season 9-0 in two seasons at Ohio State (2005-06, 2008-09).

* Ohio State is 334-95 all time when ranked in the AP top 25.

* Ohio State is 42-3 at VCA when ranked among the AP top 25. The Buckeyes have won the last 28 games at VCA as a top 25 team.

* Ohio State has a record of 58-4 vs. non-conference teams at Value City Arena and is 96-19 overall at the VCA.

* Ohio State will host West Virginia (8-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Value City Arena. The game will be televised nationally by CBS.

The team will take Tuesday off before reconvening after 8 p.m. on Wednesday, which is Christmas Eve.

"It's hard," Matta admitted over his scheduling dilemma. "And, honestly, it sounds crazy. It does bother me that we have to come back and practice. But we have West Virginia and then the Big Ten starts.

"Now it gets elevated a little bit, but that's why you keep practicing."