COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State was expecting a test at Rutgers. If you want to call what happened on Sunday night that, then the Buckeyes passed. Again.

After a slow start, Ohio State found its way offensively while Rutgers remained mostly lost, and the Buckeyes left Piscataway, N.J., with a 68-46 win to stay unbeaten in Big Ten play.

Ohio State 15-4 (6-0 Big Ten) won its fifth straight game, and its 10th in its last 11 games. The Buckeyes remain in a first-place tie with Purdue (17-2, 6-0) atop the Big Ten. The Buckeyes are now 3-0 in conference road games.

For the first 13 minutes, Rutgers had things going exactly the way it wanted. Sloppy. Ohio State led 15-9 with 7:02 to go in the first half, both teams were hovering around 30 percent shooting and the Buckeyes looked like they were going to get the 40-minute test some expected.

Then Ohio State got hot, and Rutgers went on an eight-minute cold streak.

The Buckeyes put together an 18-2 run, the two for Rutgers coming at the free throw line while the Knights continued to brick shots, at one point missing 13 of 14 field goal attempts. Junior forward Keita Bates-Diop got rolling on back-to-back 3-pointers -- one of a feed out of the high post from Kaleb Wesson, and one on a handoff from Andrew Dakich. Kyle Young had a couple of layups off the bench, and Ohio State was rolling.

Rutgers put together a 13-0 run in the second half, but that only brought the Buckeye lead down to 17. It was never really in doubt once Ohio State put on that run in the first half.

Ohio State shot 47 percent (27-of-58), while Rutgers shot 29 percent (17-of-59).

Bates-Diop got to 20 points for the fourth-straight game, maintaining his position as the Big Ten's leading scorer. He also had nine rebounds and five blocks. The Buckeyes started the second half blocking Rutgers' first four shots.

Safe to say, no Rutgers player wanted any part of this @KBD_33 @OhioStateHoops poster. pic.twitter.com/hQADnuoOvN — Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) January 15, 2018

Kam Williams had 11 points, and Kaleb Wesson had 10 to help lead the Buckeyes. Ohio State guard C.J. Jackson had nine points, six assists, seven rebounds and -- most importantly -- just one turnover. Ohio State had concerns coming in about Rutgers' ability to turn teams over. The Buckeyes gave it away 11 times, which is a number they'll take as they continue to show a better way of taking care of the ball.

When it was over

Here's how bad things got for Rutgers offensively: From he 10:45 mark of the first half until the 14:47 mark of the second half, Ohio State made 16 field goals. Rutgers made two. That allowed the Buckeyes to get a lead up to 30, and even with the Scarlet Knights' little spurt midway through the second half, that hole was too deep to get out of.

Ohio State held Rutgers, or the Knights held themselves with poor shooting, to 15 points in the first half. That was lowest-scoring half for an Ohio State Big Ten opponent since Wisconsin scored 11 in the first half against the Buckeyes in 1997.

What it means

Ohio State was supposed to win this game, and the Buckeyes at this point are at a place where as long as they win the games they're supposed to win, they're going to the NCAA Tournament.

Rutgers is improved, but still in the bottom of the Big Ten. Though with the way Rutgers plays -- pressuring the ball, forcing a lot of turnovers -- this was still a telling game for Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights have struggled all year offensively, but they've been one of the better defensive teams in the country, albeit against some not-so-great competition outside of the Big Ten.

Ohio State weathered some early struggles in just it's third true road game of the season, and then ran away with another one. The Buckeyes are 3-0 in true road games, and have won their six Big Ten games by an average of 17.5 points.

This will be a tough week with three road games (technically one on a neutral court against Minnesota in New York City next weekend). This was a good way to begin that stretch.

What's next?

Ohio State is back on the road on Wednesday night at Northwestern (11-8, 2-4). Tip-off from Chicago is set for 9 p.m. on Big Ten Network.