Waaler Löwen » up its surprise win over Uruguay with another World

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- When opposing teams scout No. 3 Ohio State, they seldom notice Lenzelle Smith Jr. Buckeyes coach Thad Matta hopes they keep ignoring him. Smith scored 19 points and No. 3 Ohio State pulled away early to beat Bryant 86-48 on Wednesday night. "I think Lenzelle has been tremendous -- nobodys asked me about him this year," Matta said. "But I think hes playing at a very, very high level of being a complete basketball player." Smith, a 6-foot-4 senior guard who does a little of everything, hit 6 of 9 shots from the field including half of his four 3-point attempts. He had eight rebounds and three assists. "I put a lot of work into my game offensively over the summer. And my confidence is off the charts," he said. "My teammates are stretching the defence and are able to find me wide open. A lot of teams, for some reason, are (not guarding) me and Im getting great looks at the basket. Im just driving my legs and trying to get the most arc I can on the ball -- and its falling." There isnt much about Smith that grabs peoples attention. Point guard Aaron Craft is the tough guy who may be as good a defender on the ball as anyone in the country. Swingman LaQuinton Ross is 6-8 with a velvet shooting touch. Sam Thompson comes off the bench to make high-flying dunks. Shannon Scott and big man Amir Williams are game-changing defenders. And then theres Smith. He leads the Buckeyes (9-0) in scoring with 12.9 points a game. Hes shooting 53 per cent from the field, 48 per cent behind the arc and 74 per cent at the free throw line. He adds 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game -- and may be Ohio States best help defender. "Theyre so talented. Thats whats hard about playing them," Bryant coach Tim OShea said. "Who do you really want to leave open? Theyre just an elite team; a very, very, very elite team." Williams added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Buckeyes, who rolled from the outset of the early round game in the Blackrock Gotham Classic. It will conclude on Dec. 21 with the Buckeyes meeting Notre Dame at Madison Square Garden. The Bulldogs (6-5) hung around with the Buckeyes for a while, but then went scoreless over the last 5:25 of the first half and watched the Buckeyes close with an 8-0 run to take a 43-23 lead. Ohio State then scored the first five points of the second half before Dan Garvins layup ended a drought of 6:40. By then, it was all over. Ohio State has lost focus from time to time against lesser teams after it has taken a big early lead. Not this time. "That was one of the things we talked about in shootaround -- trying to sustain intensity and effort and to keep the focus on the things that we need to get better at," Matta said. "We did a pretty decent job with that." Dyami Starks had 16 points for Bryant, which was playing its second game in three nights. The Bulldogs lost at Notre Dame, 70-59, on Monday night. Starks came in averaging 22.1 points a game, eighth-best in Division I. He had scored at least 20 in five games and 30 in three others. But he was held to 5-of-15 shooting from the field. The Buckeyes led 8-7 early and then scored 14 of the next 18 points to take command. For the game, they shot 52 per cent on 32 of 61. They hit 8 of 20 3-pointers (40 per cent). With Ohio State denying points inside or off the break, Bryant shot 28 per cent from the field (16 of 58). It was 6 of 24 from behind the arc. "I looked at the scores coming in and very few teams have scored 60 points on them -- and they play fast," OShea said. "So I do think that defensively they play national-championship calibredefence." The Bulldogs dropped to 0-5 all-time against Big Ten opponents. Talk about a tough schedule: They played preseason No. 1 Indiana in the opener a year ago -- in their first official game in Division I. They lost that game 97-54. The Buckeyes appear to have everything clicking right now. "Were making great finds, were reading each other," Smith said. "We have great guards on the perimeter and were able to attack the defence and penetrate and kick the ball out. Thats what you want to do. Our shooting has increased over the last three or four games and we want to just keep rolling." Custom Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys . And once again, Team Homan emerged as the victor with the reigning national champions defeating Team Sweeting at the Pintys All-Star Curling Skins Game Friday night in the tournaments opening draw at The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in beautiful Banff National Park. William Karlsson Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, Im sure youve received many emails wondering what your take is on the Spezza goal that looked like Neil blatantly kicked it in while standing directly in the middle of the crease where, you know, usually a goalie is to make a save but couldnt be due to Neil being there! Thanks! 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Bouchard defeated Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain 7-5, 6-1. Bouchard had a tough star to her match but improved as it went on. She needed 44 minutes to win the first set but just 22 to claim the second and close out victory with six breaks of serve and 17 winners. The 2012 junior WWimbledon champion has duplicated her third round from last years main draw debut and next plays German Andrea Petkovic.dddddddddddd Bouchard and Soler-Espinosa traded two sets of service breaks in the first set, with the 20-year-old Canadian taking a 6-5 lead and earning the opener a game later. The second set was all Bouchard as the seed ran away to her 32nd victory of the season. ' ' '