COLUMBUS - No player aggravates Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien more than Tony Stockman. Coincidentally, none may have as much potential.

Stockman made plenty of mistakes but scored Ohio State's last six points Wednesday night, leading the Buckeyes back to beat Furman 70-68.

''He took a couple of ill-advised shots, but those are things we have to live with at times,'' O'Brien said. ''He's not perfect.''

Not even close. Stockman hit just 7 of 18 shots from the field and at times played loose defense. But just as suddenly, he can do something special.

''When it's on the line, I don't think he has any fear,'' O'Brien said. ''I think he has no problem trying to be the guy who's going to make your team win the game. It's nice to have a guy like that.''

Stockman, who scored 21 points, broke a tie at 66 on a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left.

''I'm staying confident,'' the junior transfer from Clemson said. ''I hit the floater before that so it helped me with my confidence.''

After Moussa Diagne hit a layup with 9 seconds left, Stockman made the front end of a double-bonus with 7.7 seconds left to give Ohio State (5-3) a 70-68 lead.

The rebound of Stockman's second free throw bounced out to the perimeter and a long pass ended up in the hands of Maleye Ndoye, but his driving layup with 2 seconds left bounced around the rim and fell off. The Buckeyes' J.J. Sullinger grabbed the rebound as time expired.

''I tell our kids all the time, 'The pressure's on them.' And it was,'' Furman coach Larry Davis said. ''They're supposed to win. I thought when it got tough, we hung in there and didn't fold up.''

The Paladins (4-4) hit 12 3-pointers - just one off the school record - in 22 attempts. Freshman Eric Webb came off the bench to make 6 of 8 3-pointers for a career-best 20 points.

''Those guys are shooting 28 percent (on 3s). Why us?'' O'Brien said. ''Do their eyes light up when they see us? Are they getting looks they don't get against other teams?''

Ndoye added 11 points and Tony Carter had 10 for Furman, which capped a five-game road trip.

Brandon Fuss-Cheatham scored 13 points and Terence Dials and Sullinger each added 12 for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State, down for most of the first 26 minutes, surged midway through the second half behind Dials' eight consecutive points. The first two baskets came on goal-tending calls against Furman's Cedrick Price.

''Any win is big,'' Dials said. ''The first half was horrible. Coach got after us and we tried to pick up the intensity.''

Two free throws by Carter at the 3:18 mark put the Paladins ahead 64-62, but Dials grabbed an air ball by Fuss-Cheatham and put it in to tie it with 2:45 left.

Stockman then looped in a high running jumper from the left baseline before Nick Sanders banked in a shot at the 1:13 mark to tie it again and set up the hectic final minute.

The Paladins led 36-32 at the half while hitting 9 of 13 3-pointers. Ohio State missed all seven of its shots behind the arc.

Stockman doesn't start, even though he leads the Buckeyes in scoring at 16.3 points per game.

''If bench points are important, I'll probably keep not starting Tony,'' O'Brien said.