Moments after Ohio State’s 81-68 win over Jacksonville last night, Ohio State junior guard/forward David Lighty was displaying his built-in humility and likability by shrugging off his best performance of the season and vowing to help the Buckeyes work on improving their defense.

By this evening, word had emanated from the university that Lighty could be out for as long as three months, wiping out the services of OSU’s most experienced player and natural leader. 

A native of Cleveland who has served as a starter in all three of his seasons at OSU, Lighty is expected to miss six to 12 weeks after undergoing surgery today to repair a broken bone in his left foot. He suffered the injury to the fifth metatarsal during the game but played down the stretch and logged 36 minutes.

In fact, Lighty was the standout performer in the win over the Dolphins at Value City Arena as No. 17 Ohio State improved to 7-0. He hit 7 of 8 shots including a pair of three-pointers and poured in a season-high 21 points, which also tied a career high. The 6-5 swingman, who has played a majority of his minutes as a front liner this season, also recorded seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

OSU head coach Thad Matta confirmed the injury in a release but was not quoted. There was no indication during or immediately after the game that Lighty was hurt and apparently the team didn’t find out the bad news until today.

Dr. Grant Jones performed the surgery this afternoon at the Ohio State Medical Center. The procedure was a success, Jones said.

Lighty is the most experienced of the current Buckeyes with 83 games played and 51 starts. In seven games this season, he averaged 9.7 points and 5.7 rebounds, ranking third and second on the team respectively in those categories.

A product of Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph, Lighty started seven of 39 games as a true freshman. The Buckeyes won a school-record 35 games that season and advanced all the way to the NCAA Tournament championship game behind the exploits of classmates Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook as well as the more experienced Ron Lewis, Ivan Harris and Jamar Butler.

In that debut season, Lighty averaged 3.7 ppg and 2.3 rpg. Last season he started all 37 games and played some of his best basketball of the season in March as the Buckeyes won the NIT title. He upped his marks to 9.0 ppg and 3.6 rpg.

The Buckeyes likely will use a by-committee approach in trying to replace Lighty’s team-high 32.9 minutes per game. True freshman Will Buford, also 6-5, almost assuredly will play more. He could shift to the back line of OSU’s 2-2-1 halfcourt zone in Lighty’s place or play on the wing and allow sophomore Evan Turner to shift down. Buford has been OSU's second-leading scorer off the bench this season at 5.9 ppg but he has struggled lately with his shooting and is at 39.0 percent from the field so far.

Matta also could opt to use more size in his lineup and play sophomore Dallas Lauderdale down low with 7-0 freshman B.J. Mullens, an alignment that has been nothing more than experimental so far this season.

The Buckeyes will welcome sophomore Nikola Kecman to the rotation beginning Jan. 6 at Michigan State. The 6-8 Kecman, a newcomer who transferred in from Eastern Arizona, was suspended for the first 12 games of the season by the NCAA for playing on a club team in his native Serbia that included a player who has been deemed professional.

Matta is expected to meet with the media at about noon tomorrow.

Ohio State takes on Iona on Saturday (noon Eastern, Big Ten Network) and also has home tilts with North Carolina-Asheville (Dec. 22) and West Virginia (Dec. 27) this month before hosting Iowa Dec. 31 in the opener of Big Ten play.