JaQuan Lyle recorded a triple-double and coach Thad Matta lit a fire under the Buckeyes at halftime as Ohio State raced past Rutgers 94-68 Wednesday night at Value City Arena in Columbus.

Lyle, the Buckeyes' freshman point guard scored 16 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out 11 assists to lead Ohio State, which was down by two and outplayed throughout much of the first half.

But Ohio State (12-6, 4-1 Big Ten) scored 12 straight points to start the second half and left no doubt who the better team.

Lyle led five other Buckeyes in double figures with forwards Keita Bates-Diop and Jae'Sean Tate and guard Kam Williams each scoring 14 points. Forward Marc Loving added 12 and center Trevor Thompson 11 points.

Guard Corey Sanders led the Scarlet Knights (6-12, 0-5) with 20 points.

Rutgers, which lost to Nebraska on Saturday by 34 points, came out focused and prepared. Ohio State, which also was embarrassed last time it played, losing to Indiana by 25 points on Sunday, was in serious trouble in the first half.

Playing with only seven scholarship players, Rutgers took a 41-39 lead into halftime. Sanders scored 17 points to lead the Scarlet Knights, who out-rebounded the Buckeyes 21-14. Ohio State entered the game giving up only 64.4 points per game.

The Buckeyes would have been in deeper trouble if not for Lyle, who scored 11 first-half points and had 10 boards.

The Scarlet Knights led 21-20 when guard Bishop Daniels sank a 3-pointer midway through the first half and ignited a 12-6 run to put Rutgers up 33-26 with just over three minutes left in the half.

A late push by Loving and Williams gave Ohio State momentum heading into halftime.

Rutgers was no match in the second half as the Scarlet Knights finally scored at the 15:25 mark on guard Bishop Daniels' layup. By then, Ohio State was in cruise control and when Bates-Diop scored with 6:12 left, the Buckeyes were up 78-54.