COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a disappointing trip to Minnesota, the Buckeyes were able get back in the win column despite a turnover-ridden first half.

Ohio State would defeat Southeast Missouri State 80-48 The Buckeyes were able to improve to 10-1 on the season ahead of neutral-site bout against No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday.

Kaleb Wesson was locked in on both ends for the Buckeyes. He would finish the game with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds and two blocks. This marked Wesson’s fourth double-double of the season.

The Buckeyes would commit a season-high 21 turnovers to go along with 23 assists against the Redhawks. The previous high came against North Carolina when the Buckeyes coughed the ball up 15 times.

"I thought we didn't play with enough force or strength," Chris Holtmann said. "It was really a variety. It was passing turnovers. It was catching turnovers. It was feeding-the-post turnovers. It was catching it with one hand. We had a couple of times where we didn't run the right play and ran into bodies when we had three freshmen in there at one time. It's just stuff we need to work through and get better at honestly."

Ohio State had trouble holding onto the ball early, and as a result, the Buckeyes tallied five turnovers before the first media timeout with 15:42 left in the first half. The Buckeyes would go on to turn the ball over 13 times in the first half, but the Redhawks were only able to score three points off these giveaways.

"I think we just needed to slow down a little bit," Kyle Young said on the turnovers. "We were moving too fast. We just needed to play our own game."

Thanks to the slew of turnovers, the Buckeyes would find themselves trailing 11-9 almost halfway through the first half.

While Ohio State struggled to get shots off, they were able to hit the ones they did attempt. The Buckeyes would hit 7-of-10 shots to open the game and regain the lead when Wesson was able to knock down his second three of the evening.

Wesson would be the heartbeat of Ohio State’s offense in the first half, pouring in 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. The junior would also bring in a half-high seven rebounds to go along with two assists and three turnovers.

After falling behind 16-12, the Buckeyes would close the half on a 23-10 run to gain control going into the break.

The sloppiness allowed the Redhawks to hang around despite shooting 28.6 percent from the field in the first half. The Buckeyes would shoot 63.6 percent from the floor and 5-of-11 from three in the first 20 minutes.

The free throw line also proved significant in the first half. The Redhawks would knock down 8-of-9 form the charity stripe, while the Buckeyes would hit only 2-of-6 free throws. While Ohio State came into the game shooting 78.7 percent from the free throw line over its last seven games, the team would finish the game shooting only 58.3 percent from the line.

Ohio State was able to flex its muscles in the second half and pull away from the Redhawks. Exploding to 12-unanswered points in less than two minutes, the Buckeyes would balloon the lead to 27-points with 12:03 remaining in the game.

The run would reach 14-0 before the Redhawks could stop the bleeding.

After recording only one assist to go with four turnovers in the first half, C.J. Walker would bounce back in the final 20 minutes. He would tally five assists and only one turnover in the second half.

Also propelled by a solid end to the game, D.J. Carton would put together a well-rounded game for the Buckeyes. The freshman would finish with 10 points, five assists and five rebounds.

The Buckeyes would keep the red-hot shooting going in the second half, hitting on 55.2 percent of shots and burying eight threes. Ohio State would finish the game shooting 58.8 percent from the field, and the Buckeyes would knock down 13 threes in the contest.

"We were able to make some threes and play inside-out throughout the game but particularly in the last 30 minutes guys did a great job sharing it and moving it. It was good to see guys make shots too," Holtmann said.

The Ohio State defense was able to hold the Redhawks to 26.7 percent shooting for the game.

"Our coaches put us in great spots on defense to play their personnel and be able to close out on their shooters and play their drives, so I feel like [with] that one day prep, our coaches prepared us pretty well," Wesson said.

Ohio State will return the court in Las Vegas to take on No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday. The game will tip at 5:15 p.m. on CBS.