Court Report: Georgetown

The top-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes, champions of the South Region, will square off against the Georgetown Hoyas, the No. 2-seed and East Regional champions in the national semifinals, Saturday night. Tip-off at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta is scheduled for 6:07pm EDT.

The game will be televised on CBS with Jim Nantz and Billy Packer, and on your transistor, “Big Daddy” Paul Keels and Ron Stokes call the action broadcasting on the OSU Radio Network to 60 different stations throughout Buckeyeland.

Georgetown enters the game with a record of 30-6, and winners of the Big East regular season (13-3) and tournament championships.

The only nonconference losses for the Hoyas came to Old Dominion on November 19 (75-62), Oregon on November 29 (57-50), and Duke on December 2 (61-52).

Ohio State and Georgetown share two common opponents, Michigan and Cincinnati, as the Hoyas defeated the Wolverines 67-51 in Ann Arbor, and were victorious against the Bearcats twice during conference play (82-67 on January 27 at home, and 75-65 on February 21 at UC).

The Hoyas are led by 6-foot-9 junior forward Jeff Green, who was named the Big East Conference player of the year, and the most outstanding player in the East Regional.

Green leads the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game, and second with an average of 6.2 rebounds per contest.

Roy Hibbert, a 7-foot-2 junior center is second on the Georgetown roster in scoring at 12.7 points per game, and is the team’s best glass cleaner at 6.9 rpg.

Third on the Hoyas in scoring is 6-foot-1 junior guard Jonathan Wallace, who averages 11.2 points per game, and is by far the team’s best three-point shooter at 48.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Rounding out the starting five for Georgetown is freshman DaJuan Summers, a 6-foot-8 forward (9.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg), and 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Jessie Sapp (9.1 ppg, 3.4 apg).

Key contributor off the bench is 6-foot-8 junior forward Patrick Ewing Jr. (4.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg).

Like Ohio State, Georgetown will go nine deep. Georgetown is not a great three-point shooting team at 37.1 percent, though that is slightly better than what Ohio State has done from beyond the arc (36.9 percent). But, Ohio State has also attempted 143 more three-pointers over the course of the season.

Ohio State averages 55.6 field goal attempts per game, while Georgetown averages 49.3, which is largely attributed to Hoyas’ coach John Thompson III and the Princeton offense he uses, which emphasizes constant motion, passing, back-door cuts, and disciplined teamwork.

With that, I would surmise that Ohio State head coach Thad Matta will employ a 2-3 zone defense against Georgetown, which will hopefully keep 7-foot center Greg Oden out of foul trouble.

I am sure, though, that depending on personnel and what the game dictates, he will switch back and forth from zone to man.

For Buckeye fans, we all remember last year in the NCAA second round game at UD Arena when Hibbert dominated 6-foot-9 Terence Dials in the low post to score 20 points, and Ohio State didn’t have anyone who could man up on Green, who added another 19 in a 70-52 win for Georgetown.

Several “expert” prognostigators are picking Georgetown to win, but if they do, they are going to have to attempt and make a lot of threes.

With a win, Ohio State will take on the winner of Florida/UCLA, Monday night.

Senior leading the way to the ATL

While Ohio State’s heralded freshmen from Indianapolis, 7-foot center Greg Oden and 6-foot-1 point guard Mike Conley Jr. garner most of the attention, it’s a fifth-year senior from Columbus who has propelled the Buckeyes to the Final Four.

Oden was named a first team All-American on Monday by The Associated Press, and the first Buckeye since Toledo’s Jimmy Jackson in 1992 to earn that honor.

Conley, who averaged 15.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in Ohio State’s first four tournament games, was named the Most Outstanding Player in the South Regional.

But the Buckeyes would have not advanced to the Final Four if it weren’t for Lewis and “The Shot” that tied the game against Xavier with two seconds left.

Through 37 games this season, Lewis is averaging 12.8 points per game, which is third-best on the team.

But let’s break this down during the various stages of the 2006-07 campaign, from the beginning of the season without Oden, the rest of the regular season with Oden, and the postseason.

In the first seven games while Oden was sidelined after wrist surgery, Lewis was pouring in 18.9 points per game, including a season-high 30 against North Carolina at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill.

The next six non-conference games with Oden in the line-up: just 7.5 points per game. One of which includes Lewis’ dreadful performance against lowly Coppin State, where he went 0-of-8 from the field, 0-of-7 from three-point range, and score zero points in 23 minutes of action.

During Big Ten play, Lewis averaged 9.9 points per game, and scored in double figures in just nine out of the 16 conference tilts.

But star players shine brightest when there’s most at stake.

During the Big Ten Tournament, Lewis averaged 15.5 points per game. So far in the NCAA Tournament, Lewis has risen to the occasion, contributing 21.8 points per contest. He has also scored in double digits in the last eight games.

Oden has averaged 28.9 minutes of action in 37 games. During the Big Ten portion of the schedule, that average increased to 31.7 mpg. But during the four NCAA tournament games, Oden has averaged just 26.7 minutes per game due to foul trouble.

When Oden plays less, Lewis scores more. Coincidence? I think not.

But that’s what big-time players do to fill the void, and that what makes the Buckeyes so hard to defend. When Oden is in the game, for the most part, the offense goes through him in the low post. When Oden is on the bench, it’s the play of the perimeter players like Conley with his dribble penetration, along with Lewis’ three-point shooting and the ability to drive to the dish that produce in the big man’s absence.

Lewis, who is 64-of-179 (35.8 percent) from beyond the arc on the season, is 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) in the NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile, Oden played just 18 minutes against Tennessee, and the Buckeyes trailed 49-31 at halftime.

Could Ohio State win without Oden, especially against Tennessee?

“That’s a good question,” Lewis said to the Los Angeles Times. “I mean, I would never say we’re better off without Greg in there, but sometimes when he’s in we tend to look for him a little too much maybe. When he’s out, [the guards] play more aggressive.”

In the game of basketball, there are five players on the court and only one ball.

When you have a roster full of talented players, it takes a very good coach, like Thad Matta, to orchestrate everything together.

Of course, Ohio State had to lean how to play without Oden, and they had to learn how to play with him, too.

With Ohio State’s best performance to date coming last Saturday against Memphis, everything has been sweet music to the ears of Buckeye fans.

Court Report: Memphis

Ohio State’s road to the Final Four in Atlanta makes one last stop as the top-seeded Buckeyes take on the second-seed Memphis Tigers, Saturday afternoon. Tip-off at The Alamodome is scheduled for 4:40pm ET.

The game will be televised on CBS with Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery calling the action. As always, “Big Daddy” Paul Keels and Ron Stokes can be heard on 60 stations throughout Buckeyeland on the OSU Radio Network with the pregame show beginning at 3:30pm ET.

Ohio State and Memphis have identical 33-3 records, though the Tigers have been able to take the path of least resistance.

As a member of Conference USA, which lost members like Cincinnati, Louisville, and Marquette to the Big East, Memphis streaked through their league slate undefeated and won the C-USA tournament title by knocking off Houston 71-59.

Memphis played three teams who were ranked at the time heading into the contest, and has a record of 1-2 in those games. The lone victory came against then No. 20 Kentucky back in November, with the Tigers winning 80-63. The win is somewhat ironic due to the fact the Memphis head coach John Calipari more than likely will be named the new coach at UK after the season.

The two losses came from then No. 19 Georgia Tech (92-85), and previously ranked at No. 9 Arizona (79-71).

Ohio State and Memphis share one common opponent, Tennessee, which the Tigers lost to back on December 6 by the score of 76-58, while the Buckeyes defeated the Volunteers twice this season, the last win coming just two days ago in the South Regional semifinals.

Ohio State won despite trailing by as many as 20 points with just fractions of a second left in the first half, with senior guard Ron Lewis scoring a game-high 25 points to lead the Buckeyes.

Memphis made it to the regional finals by knocking off third-seeded Texas A&M 65-64.

Jeremy Hunt, the Tigers’ sixth man, came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points, while Chris Douglas-Roberts added 15 for Memphis.

Hunt, a 6-foot-5 senior guard, and Douglas-Roberts, a 6-foot-6 sophomore guard, are the only Tigers to average in double figure point totals.

Douglas-Roberts averages 15.4 points per game, while Hunt comes off the pine to chip in 13.7 ppg.

Rounding out Memphis’ starting five: Robert Dozier, a 6-foot-9 sophomore forward (9.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg), 6-foot-9 junior center Joey Dorsey (8.7 ppg, 9.6 rpg) and 6-foot-6 sophomore guard Antonio Anderson (7.9 ppg, 3.6 apg).

Say what!? Bulletin board material:

“I respect Greg Oden a lot, he’s a great player. He might be as good as Joey Dorsey.”

This quote came from Memphis’ 6-foot-9 center Joey Dorsey, speaking to reporters and referring to himself as a third person.

Pretty bold statement, especially coming from a guy nobody has ever heard of, and is four inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than Oden.

“Hold him to nine points and probably five rebounds. I’m an underrated big man,” Dorsey said as he continued living in his dream world.

Dorsey also predicted, in the published article from the Memphis Commercial Appeal, that he was going to score 15 points and pull down 20 rebounds.

I predict that after two less-than-stellar outings in the NCAA tournament, that Oden is going to have a monster game for the Buckeyes, with this win being a little easier, and hopefully less nerve-racking.

Final Four-bound!

On Friday, Memphis’ 6-foot-9, 260-pound center Joey Dorsey made some pretty bold, albeit delusional predictions in terms of how he and his Tigers’ were going to fare against Ohio State in the South Regional final.

“I respect Greg Oden a lot, he’s a great player. He might be as good as Joey Dorsey.”

Dorsey, speaking to reporters and referring to himself as a third person, happens to be four inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than Oden.

“Hold him to nine points and probably five rebounds. I’m an underrated big man,” Dorsey said as he continued living in his dream world.

Dorsey also predicted, in the published article from the Memphis Commercial Appeal, that he was going to score 15 points and pull down 20 rebounds.

Oden, though, finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, including 12 in the second half as the Buckeyes blew past Memphis 92-76 at the Alamodome to earn a trip to the Final Four in Atlanta.

Dorsey, on the other hand, had zero points and did not attempt a field goal in 19 minutes of game action.

“When somebody talks about Greg, they’re talking about all of us. We took it upon ourselves to come out and play the game. And I think that’s why we’re so successful,” Mike Conley Jr. said after the game, who was named Most Outstanding Player in the South Regional and finished with 19 points.

Senior Ron Lewis had another brilliant performance, scoring a team-high 22 points.

“I’m just living a dream, Lewis said. “It’s a loss for words. I never thought I’d be in this position. With hard work and a great team behind you, you can do anything.

The Buckeyes were able to mount an early 8-0 lead, and the Tigers did not get on the scoreboard until the 15:31 mark of the first half on a layup by Antonio Anderson, which sparked a 10-1 run as Memphis took the lead after a pair of free throws from Jeremy Hunt with 12:25 left in the first half.

From that point in the game, there were eight lead changes and five ties until Ohio State’s Jamar Butler drained a three-pointer to put the Buckeyes ahead 29-26 with 5:21 remaining until intermission.

Ohio State was able to maintain that three point cushion, and held a 41-38 advantage at the break.

The Buckeyes still led by that margin with 14:46 left in the game after a pair of charity stripe tosses by Lewis that made the score 51-48.

But with Oden on the bench after picking up a very questionable third foul, Memphis mounted a comeback.

The Tigers went on an 8-0 with the 7-footer idling on the pine before OSU’s Daequan Cook drained a deep three to cut Memphis’ lead down to 56-54.

With Ohio State trailing 60-57 with 9:49 left, Lewis misfired on a triple, but he was able to corral the long rebound. The ball ended up in the hands of Conley, who then fed a wide-open Oden under the basket.

While going up for a two-handed jam, Memphis’ Chris Douglas-Roberts grab Oden around the waist. The basket was allowed and a intentional foul was called on Douglas-Roberts. Oden was given two shots at the line, and made one, then the Buckeyes were awarded the ball out-of-bounds.

After consulting the NCAA Basketball Rule Book, I found this:

Section 1. Airborne Shooter
Art. 1. An airborne shooter is in the act of shooting.
Art. 2. An airborne shooter is a player who has released the ball on a try for
goal until one foot has returned to the floor.

Greg Oden was in the air when Chris Douglas-Roberts grabbed him around the waist, dunked the ball, and returned to the floor.

The basket counted because Oden was considered an “airborne” shooter.

You see that all of the time when a player goes in for a dunk and is fouled with the basket being allowed, though usually the player that commits the foul is leaping to contest the shot, not hugging his shorts.

“That was one of the point of emphasis going into the season this year, and you have to make a play for the ball,” Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said on the intentional foul call. “You know, that’s what they’re supposed to call, and I obviously thought it was a good call.”

Just seconds later following the inbounds play, Butler drove from the right wing into the paint and was fouled by Andre Allen. The call could of gone either way, a blocking foul or a charge, but Butler went to the line and made two free throws that put Ohio State ahead 62-60, and the Buckeyes never trailed the rest of the way.

The game was tied on two different occasions before Cook got a steal and scored on a layup with 7:46 left, and Ohio State held the lead the remainder of the contest.

The biggest daggers came on three-pointers by Butler with 6:44 remaining, and one from Lewis with 4:32 left that padded the Buckeyes lead to 74-66.

From the 3:47 mark until the conclusion of the game, all of Ohio State’s points came from the foul line as the Buckeyes went a perfect 18-of-18 from the charity stripe in the closing minutes.

Meanwhile, Memphis was just 2-of-8 from the field in the final two minutes.

Ohio State went 26-of-52 (51.0 percent) from the field, 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from three-point range, and 35-of-41 (85.4 percent) from the foul line.

Memphis was 26-of-65 (40.0 percent) from the floor, 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from beyond the arc, and 14-of-20 (70.0 percent) from the charity stripe.

For the season, Memphis had been holding opponents to 39 percent shooting.

Hunt finished with 26 points for Memphis on 6-of-16 shooting from the field, including 5-of-11 from three-point range, and 9-of-10 from the free throw line.

“It is something we wanted to do,” Oden said about going to the Final Four. “It was a goal of ours and now that we are going we have a lot of work to do. We want to win.”

Up next, Ohio State will play the winner of the East Regional final, which will either be North Carolina or Georgetown, next Saturday night at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Reversal of fortunes twenty minutes later

There was a huge difference between Ohio State’s play in the first half, and the one displayed by the Buckeyes in the second 20 minutes of action.

And whatever OSU head coach Thad Matta said in the locker room after the pitiful first half performance should be bottled up and saved.

“It’s part him telling us we didn’t come out to play the first 20 minutes, we were soft,” freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr. said on Coach Matta’s speech at the break. “We didn’t show a lot of aggressiveness, offensively, defensively.

The top-seeded Buckeyes spotted fifth-seeded Tennessee a 17-point halftime lead before rallying to defeat the Volunteers 85-84 in the South Regional semifinals at The Alamodome Thursday night.

“In this tournament, the two most important words are `survive’ and `advance,’ and we’ve been very, very fortunate the last couple of games to do those things,” Matta said following the game.

I think the two most important words might be, “Wake up!”

Ohio State trailed by as many as 20 points with just fractions of a second left before halftime when David Lighty scored on a drive and was hacked going to the dish. His old school three-point play trimmed the Vols lead down to 49-32 at intermission.

Tennessee’s big first half was fueled by their sharp-shooting skills. The Vols were 19-of-34 from the field in the first 20 minutes, as Ramar Smith added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor.

From 19 feet, nine inches and beyond, Tennessee was an even better going 9-of-15 (60.0 percent) from three-point range, with guards Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith each going 3-for-4 from downtown.

Lofton finished the half with 13 points, while all of JaJuan Smith’s production were from the three deep triples.

For Ohio State, Greg Oden was limited to just nine minutes of action after picking up three fouls and scored just two points.

After Matta’s halftime rants, the Buckeyes scored 12 of the game’s first 14 points of the second half, and after the Ron Lewis scored on a layup with 16:49 left in the game, OSU trailed by just seven at 51-44.

Ohio State continued to chip away at the lead, and after a pair of free throws by Conley with 9:32 remaining, the game was tied at 64-all.

Two possessions later, the Buckeyes gained their first lead since the 16:41 mark in the first half when Matt Terwilliger sank a pair from the charity stripe.

Ohio State’s biggest lead of the contest came after a deep three from Jamar Butler that put the Buckeyes ahead 72-68 with 6:57 left.

The Volunteers, who relied on their three-point shooting all game, made consecutive triples on three straight possessions to take a 77-74 lead with 4:41 remaining.

But the Buckeyes struck right back with some hot-shooting of their own from three-point range, as Lighty and Lewis each hit long-range bombs, the latter putting OSU ahead 82-79 with just over two minutes left on the clock.

UT’s Lofton, though, showed why he is an All-American with a game-tying trey with 1:52 remaining.

From there it was all about making free throws and defensive stops.

Oden made a pair with 1:38 left for Ohio State, but Tennessee’s Wayne Chism could only convert one of his two attempts 20 seconds later.

Lewis, who scored 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, missed on a long triple. Then OSU’s Harris fouled Ramar Smith to send him to the line, who could only make the back end of his pair from the line which tied the game with 38 ticks on the clock.

With just about a three second differential with the game and shot clocks, Conley was able to wind down some time before driving to the hoop and was fouled.

Conley made just one of his two free throw attempts with 6.5 seconds left before Oden was able to swat away Ramar Smith driving runner as time expired.

One thing is for sure, the Buckeyes were very aggressive, especially in the second half, at attacking the tin. That was evident by the fact that OSU went to the foul line 35 times and made 23, while Tennessee attempted 17 and made just eight.

Half of Tennessee’s field goal attempts were from three-point range. The Vols were 30-of-62 (48.4 percent) from the field, and 16-of-31 (51.6 percent) from downtown.

Ohio State fared better than Tennessee from the floor (27-of-51, 52.9 percent), but not from beyond the arc (8-of-22, 36.4 percent).

UT did outrebound OSU 34-33, even though the Vols were considerably smaller.

Along with Lewis’ 25 points, Conley added 17 and Harris chipped in 11 as the only Buckeyes to score in double figures.

Lofton, the SEC player of the year, led the Volunteers with 24 points.

Up next, the Buckeyes will face second-seeded Memphis in the South Regional Final at The Alamodome, Saturday afternoon with tip-off at 3:40pm ET.

Note to Self: Must make appointment with cardiologist to make sure my ticker is still OK.

Court Report: Tennessee

The top-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes head to San Antonio to take on the fifth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers in the NCAA South Regional Semifinals, Thursday night. Tip-off at The Alamodome is scheduled for 9:57pm ET.

The game will be televised on CBS, locally on WBNS-10TV, with Verne Lundquist of Happy Gilmore fame calling the play-by-play, and Bill “With a Kiss” Raftery chiming in his expert analysis.

As always, “Big Daddy” Paul Keels and former Buckeye baller Ron Stokes handle the duties on the OSU Radio Network, now with 60 affiliates across Buckeyeland.

Ohio State is 3-0 all-time against Tennessee and 26-23 overall against Southeastern Conference opponents. The last time these two schools met on the hardwood was just two months ago at Value City Arena.

Back in January with the Buckeyes’ trailing by a point, none other than senior swingman Ron Lewis drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 11.2 seconds left to lead then fifth-ranked Ohio State to a 68-66 win over then 16th-ranked Tennessee.

Lewis finished with just five points on 2-of-5 shooting from the floor, but came through when it mattered most. Just like last Saturday against Xavier.

“Really I just thought about winning,” Lewis said following the Tennessee game. “I didn’t know how many we were down. We were down one. I knew we needed a bucket to win.”

The dynamic duo from Circle City, 7-foot center Greg Oden and 6-foot-1 point guard Mike Conley Jr. combined for 40 of Ohio State’s 68 points.

Oden had a career-high 24 points and 15 rebounds, while his high school running mate chipped in a sweet 16.

Tennessee’s tallest post players, 6-foot-7 freshman Duke Crews and 6-foot-9 freshman Wayne Chism, were no match for Oden, who was 9-of-13 shooting from the field, with seven of those made baskets coming on two-handed jams.

“I felt Tennessee was smaller inside. He was spectacular and dominant today,” Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said following the UT game in January. “Outside of his 24 points and 15 rebounds he did more than anyone would know. Greg is also a very good passer we just need to get his inside-outside game going.”

In that game, though, Ohio State committed a whooping 20 turnovers against Tennessee’s press.

And defensively, the Buckeyes need to do a better job with dribble penetration.

Tennessee’s 6-foot-2 senior All-American guard Chris Lofton, who finished with a team-high 23 points, scored on two eye-opening drives to give his Volunteers the lead twice in the final minute.

Unfortunately for Tennessee, both Lofton and his backcourt mate, Ramar Smith, a 6-foot-2 freshman, could not hit their free throws in the closing moments of the game.

The Buckeyes’ led by as much as 10 points an two different occasions in the second half before the Volunteers chipped away at that margin and took the lead back on a layup by Lofton with 56 seconds left to play.

Lofton leads the Volunteers in scoring, averaging 20.7 points per game. JaJuan Smith, a 6-foot-2 freshman guard is second on the team in scoring (15.3 ppg), Ramar Smith is third (10.6 ppg). No other Tennessee player averages in double figures.

Lewis, Conley save the day


Ron Lewis: The Shot
(AP Photo)

There’s seems to be something missing from Ohio State’s new form-fitting jerseys and their ultra-baggy shorts made by Nike.

Capes.

At least for the uniforms worn by Ron Lewis and Mike Conley Jr.

Lewis nailed the game-tying three-pointer from somewhere near Paducah with two seconds left that sent the second round match-up into an extra session, then Conley scored 11 of his 21 points in overtime to give the top-seeded Buckeyes a 78-71 win over Xavier to punch their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen.

Lewis finished the game shooting 8-of-13 from the field, and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc for a game-high 27 points. He also added eight rebounds in 35 minutes of action.

All of this could of been for naught if it weren’t for a missed free throw.
With 16 seconds left and the Buckeyes trailing 61-59, Ohio State’s Jamar Butler missed a three-pointer right in front of OSU’s bench that was rebounded by David Lighty, who was then absolutely mauled under the basket by Xavier’s Justin Doellman, though no foul was called.

Lighty’s miss as he was tackled in the paint was rebounded XU’s Justin Cage, who then was shoved by Greg Oden to stop the clock with nine seconds remaining.

Hearing from Xavier fans, everyone was crying for an intentional foul. But how could you call that on Oden when Lighty was clearly decked to the floor!?

Xavier message boards sound more like Michigan football ones. Take a Mydol and get over it!

If this was hockey, Cage might of received a two-minute minor for diving.

One thing is for sure, I am sick and tired of the final seconds of college basketball games turning into WWE free-for-alls.

With Cage at the foul line, he sank the first attempt, but the second toss rattled in and out and was rebounded by OSU’s Ivan Harris.

Harris quickly threw an outlet pass to Conley, and with a cut and weave near the top of the key which freed Lewis, he was able to drain the triple from downtown.

Xavier’s Drew Lavender heaved a three-quarters shot at the buzzer that fell short with the game tied at 62-all.

The Musketeers put the first points on the board in overtime after Doellman scored on a jumper 16 seconds into the extra frame.

From there, Conley took over.

He scored on consecutive possessions with a three-pointer from the top of the key and two driving layups that put the Buckeyes ahead 69-64 with 3:05 remaining.

Daequan Cook turned out the lights on Xavier’s hopes of any more dancing with a three-pointer of his own from the left wing with 2:15 left and OSU now ahead 72-64.

This game as tied on four different occasions and there were 13 lead changes.

Xavier held a 59-50 advantage after Stanley Burrell scored on a power layup down the baseline with 3:51 left in regulation.

Lewis made a pair of free throws with 2:54 remaining, and Butler drained a three-ball at the 2:11 mark to trim X’s lead down to 59-55.

Lewis then drove down the right side of the lane, going strong to the dish before he was fouled. His old school three-point play closed the gap down to a single point with 1:36 left.

Oden has his standard double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Butler contributed 13 points.

Up next, Ohio State will play the winner of Tennessee/Virginia at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Thursday night. The tip-off is TBA.