Ohio State 78, Cent. Connecticut 57

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) _ Central Connecticut doubled up on Greg Oden in his first NCAA tournament game, so he doubled up, too. <br/><br/>Ohio State's freshman sensation had 19 points and 10 rebounds in

Thursday, March 15th 2007, 8:21 pm

By: News On 6

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) _ Central Connecticut doubled up on Greg Oden in his first NCAA tournament game, so he doubled up, too.

Ohio State's freshman sensation had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the top-seeded Buckeyes' 78-57 win over Central Connecticut on Thursday in the South Regional's opening round.

Oden earned his 12th double-double of the season. But as the Buckeyes (31-3) showed during their somewhat workmanlike victory over the Northeastern Conference champions, they are hardly a one-prodigy show.

Jamar Butler scored 17 points and Ron Lewis added 13 as the Buckeyes quickly dispatched the game but ultimately overmatched the Blue Devils (22-12). Ohio State needed less than 5 minutes to build a double-digit lead and kept the pressure on well into the second half.

Javier Mojica led Central Connecticut with 19 points. It wasn't nearly enough to become the first No. 16 seed to win an NCAA tournament game, even with the stones given to the team by school president John Miller to symbolize David vs. Goliath.