By Erik Matuszewski (Bloomberg.com) -

Ohio State University has shown why it was the favorite of oddsmakers entering college basketball’s national men’s tournament, steamrolling its first two opponents by a combined 61 points.

The Buckeyes had their largest margin of victory in 27 tournament appearances yesterday, when they routed George Mason University 98-66. Next up for Ohio State is the University of Kentucky in the East Regional semifinals in Newark, New Jersey, on March 25.

“It’s kind of hard to guard this basketball team with so many weapons we have,” said Buckeyes freshman Jared Sullinger, who has 29 points and 17 rebounds in the two wins. “I don’t know what you do to take notes on how to guard us.”

While Ohio State has won 34 of 36 games this season, they figure to be challenged by what may be the toughest of the four four-team regionals in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. In addition to fourth-seeded Kentucky, the East also features the No. 2 seed University of North Carolina and No. 11 Marquette University.

“That’s going to be a very, very challenging region,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said at a news conference. “But for the time being, we’re going to enjoy the ride (home) and then we’ll pick up when we get there.”

Kentucky is the highest-ranked team any of the No. 1 seeds have to play in the regional semifinals, as the University of Kansas meets No. 12 University of Richmond in the Southwest and defending champion Duke University faces No. 5 Arizona in the West…….

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