No. 4 Ohio State 69, Rhode Island 58: Deshaun Thomas scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half to help the Buckeyes finally put away the pesky Rams in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic in Uncasville, Conn.

Lenzelle Smith Jr. added 15 points - 10 in the second half - and buried a 3-pointer with 2:14 to play that built the lead to 11 points and snuffed out Rhode Island's last hopes of an upset. Ohio State will meet Washington in the championship game Sunday while Rhode Island will meet Seton Hall in the consolation.

Xavier Munford scored 16 points to lead four players in double figures for the Rams (0-3), who trailed by four points at halftime and were within 50-44 with seven minutes to play.

Aaron Craft responded with a 3-pointer for the Buckeyes and Thomas scored seven points in a span of 2:18 to stretch the lead to 62-48 with 4:08 remaining.

Craft finished with 13 points and four assists for Ohio State (2-0), which will face the winner of Saturday night's game between Washington and Seton Hall on Sunday.

GAME NOTEBOOK: After getting outrebounded in their opener against Albany, the Buckeyes dominated the glass 32-21. ... Nikola Malesevic and Andre Malone scored 11 points each for the Rams, who have lost 24 straight games to ranked opponents. ... Ohio State hit 6 of 11 3-pointers in the second half.