The Ohio State Buckeyes faced off with the Roadrunners of Texas – San Antonio in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes ran away with the game as would be expected for the #1 seed, winning 75-46 against the over matched Roadrunners. William Buford led the Buckeyes with 18 points on 7-12 shooting, along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Devin Gibson of UTSA led all scorers with 24 points while picking up 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals – most of which came against Aaron Craft.
The game started out in a surprisingly poor way for the Buckeyes. The roadrunners came out of the gate ready to play and were taking it to the Bucks. UTSA found a number of good looks on offense early, including a nice three pointer from the left corner to take an early 9-5 lead.
A William Buford tomahawk dunk gave the Buckeyes a little kick against the unfamiliar Roadrunner 2-3 zone. Not surprisingly, Craft and company struggled against the defensive look. In fact, Sullinger wasn’t able to get his first points against it until 7 minutes into the game. The score, made against tough defensive play, seemed to give the Bucks some confidence to work with.
The major issue early was that the Buckeyes found themselves not able to play their style of game. As has been the storyline most of the season, teams that slow down the pace of the game give Ohio State more issues than any other (see: Wisconsin). It took a while for the Buckeyes to find their offense, which they eventually did from William Buford and Jon Diebler’s three point shooting.
UTSA wasn’t about to let the Buckeyes get away. The whole point to their slow-it-down strategy was to keep themselves within striking distance of OSU. That strategy seemed to be paying off late in the first half, as the Bucks couldn’t extend their lead beyond 10. It was fairly clear that the Roadrunners were doing a good job being patient on offense and agressive on defense and it was paying dividends in the scoreboard.
Things changed quickly, much like with many previous Ohio State games. In the closing moments of the half, the Buckeyes went ballistic with their scoring going on an 9-0 run capped off by an unguarded Diebler three pointer. The Buckeyes were starting to impose their will on the 16 seed, and the talent disparity quickly became obvious.
One big problem that became obvious in this one was Deshaun Thomas’ defensive understanding. Every once in a while, it’s clear that Thomas doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be doing on the defensive end. That included one play where Thomas was standing behind Sullinger’s shoulder in the paint, not watching the left side of the basket. UTSA took advantage on that particular play, though Thomas luckily didn’t compound the problem with a dumb foul.
The Buckeyes had a very good half shooting, playing at the “kind” rim in Quicken Loans Arena The Bucks shot 65.2% (15-23) from the floor and 60% (6-10) from three, including 3-5 from Diebler and 3-4 from Buford from beyond the arc. The Roadrunners were not quite as successful from the floor, though were respectable in their own right, hitting 45.5% (10-22) from the floor. Unfortunately, their three point shooting were far from on par as they hit only 12.5% (1-8).
The only player to make double figures in the first half was a smoking hot William Buford. Buford rained in 15 points on 6-10 shooting for the first half, though he did seem to cool off a bit towards the end. The Buckeyes also outrebounded the Roadrunners 14-6, including 5-2 on the offensive end, while picking up 14 assists on their 15 baskets. UTSA notched only 5 assists for the entire half, finding themselves down 37-21.
The second half started in much the same way as the first. UTSA found some confidence and made it work for them on the defensive end. The Roadrunners picked Craft’s pocket and earned 5 quick unanswered points to open the half. It looked like UTSA was going to make things interesting in the second half.
At that point, the Buckeyes went to work. A couple of defensive stops and a few rebounds led to offense on the other end. It was clear that things were starting to slip out of UTSA’s control, especially when head coach Brooks Thompson was called for a technical foul. Diebler dropped the foul shots, which was soon followed by a Lighty three pointer to give the Buckeyes a 20 point lead.
The game started to drift into fairly ugly territory. Players were beginning to play sloppy basketball, making bad turnovers and missing easy shots. That was particularly true for UTSA, who found their grip on the game slipping quickly as the Buckeyes began to insert the younger guns into the game with as many as 10 minutes left.
With the new blood in the game, the Buckeyes reestablished their play and began to really run away with the score. UTSA put up a fight in short spurts, finding some offense against the OSU bench, but it wasn’t nearly enough to make much of a difference. Eventually the lead, which had been well into the 30’s, was dropped to 26, but there simply wasn’t enough time for UTSA to do anything more.
The Buckeyes ended the game with a decent shooting night. OSU shot 58.0% (29-50) from the floor and an even 50.0% (12-24) from beyond the arc. The Ohio State three point shooting was significantly helped by the UTSA 2-3 zone, which usually opens up the three point stripe. San Antonio shot only 34.0% (18-53) overall and 23.5% (4-17) from three. It was an improvement from the first half, but no-where near sufficient to pull an upset.
Four Buckeyes scored in double figures, including William Buford’s 18 points. Buford was joined by Diebler (14), Sullinger (11) and Deshaun Thomas (13). Surprisingly, a Roadrunner led all scorers as Devin Gibson scored 24 points for the game. Unfortunately, the rest of his team combined for only 22.
The Buckeyes will next face the George Mason Patriots in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. That game will be played on Sunday afternoon.
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