COLUMBUS, Ohio - Through the first two games of the season, it took the Buckeyes eight and nearly four minutes to score against Cincinnati and Umass-Lowell, respectively, but Ohio State heard the criticism loud and clear evidenced by the explosive start to the game Wednesday night against Villanova.

Duane Washington Jr., starting in place of still-injured Andre Wesson, exploded for 11 points in the first three minutes with three 3-pointers and a made layup, and this comes after just 15 points in the first two games combined for Washington. CJ Walker also got in early on the action with a 3-pointer and 3-point play to help contribute to the Buckeyes' 17-3 lead just three minutes into the game.

For as well as Ohio State started offensively, the defense of the Buckeyes may have started even better. Villanova missed six of their first seven shots and turned the ball over six times in the first 10 minutes.

Ohio State continued to apply pressure on offense with some three-guard lineups while keeping the Wildcats checked offensively to further their lead to 38-12 with 4:39 remaining in the first half, but it was obvious at that point that Jay Wright and Villnova wouldn't go down without a fight.

After going up 38-12, the Wildcats began to capitalize on mistakes by the Buckeyes. Ohio State missed their final six shots of the half (though Kaleb Wesson did pick up two points at the free throw line) and committed a turnover while Villanova's junior guard Collin Gillespie scored on three straight Wildcat possessions to cut the Buckeyes' lead to only 18 points, the score 40-22 at the half.

Despite the slow end to the half, the Buckeyes still shot 53.6 percent from the field in the first half and were 6-of-10 from beyond the arc while Villanova only hit 26.7 percent of their shots in the first twenty minutes.

Villanova continued to try and stay with Ohio State in the second half, but everytime the Wildcats would try to break off a run, the Buckeyes were there to stop it from happening. Ohio State's defense clamped down just as hard in the second half, and with 10:02 remaining in the game, Villanova had only added 10 points and found their deficit had increased to 24 points.

For as good as Ohio State's defense played, Villanova didn't do themselves any favors. The Wildcats were missing what few wide open shots they have and while Villanova cleaned up the 10 turnovers they had in the first half, their execution was not much better in the second half, shooting only 35.5 percent from the field.

To Villanova's credit, they never stopped trying to make a comeback happen, but any hope of that ended when D.J. Carton laid down an earth-shattering dunk that blew the top of Value City Arena with 9:32 remaining in the game to give the Buckeyes a 60-32 lead, and a layup by Kyle Young on the Buckeyes' ensuing possession put Ohio State up 30 points on the No. 10 team in the nation.

Ohio State continued to pile things on from that point with 3-pointers from E.J. Liddell and Carton continuing to break the ankles of Wildcat defenders, and the Buckeyes finished out the game to make the final score 76-51.

The star in this game for Ohio State was certainly Washington who finished with 14 points, tied for third most in his career, off 5-of-8 shooting including going 4-of-6 from 3-point range. His 11 first half points carried the Buckeyes to an early lead, and with how stingy Ohio State's defense has played this season, that was insurmountable for almost any team.

Five players (Washington, Wesson, Carton, Walker and Luther Muhammad) finished in double digits while Wesson added a team-high 11 rebounds to complete his second straight double-double along with a career-high four blocks.

After a shaky start offensively to the season, everything came together for Ohio State against Villanova as they connected on 60 percent of their shots from the field and shot 9-of-16 from 3-point range. On the defensive side of things, Villanova shot only 30.6 percent from the field and were 10-of-33 from beyond the arc.

Ohio State will return to the court on Monday against Stetson. Tip-off is at 8:30 pm and the game can be found on BTN.