The Drought is Over
Caleb Downs scores Ohio State’s first punt return touchdown since 2014.
In a matter of hours, Thad Matta's 10th-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes (23-10) will look to extend their season as they take on 7-seed Virginia Commonwealth in the second round of the NCAA Tournament's West Regional.
Dropping to a 10-seed and being shipped to Portland are clear indicators of what the selection committee thought of Ohio State's resume, which sports just three quality wins (Indiana, Maryland, Purdue). In fact, the only really consistent aspect of the season was the team's collective inconsistency.
As such, it makes sense that Ohio State's two most productive players in league play were freshmen in D'Angelo Russell and Jae'Sean Tate. Russell was expected to be a star and he didn't disappoint, leading the team in points (20.3), rebounds (6.3) and assists per game (5.1).
Tate's emergence was a different story. A reserve through the non-conference slate and the first six games of B1G action, the Pickerington product earned his first start January 22nd at Northwestern and hasn't looked back.
Despite averaging only 16 minutes in those first six league games, Tate managed to rank 2nd on the team in points (10.7) and rebounds (5.0) while his field goal percentage (61.6%) ranked first among teammates seeing at least eight minutes per game.
The hope is that the young duo can bring it on the biggest stage but even if they do, Ohio State likely won't make it past the first game – and definitely not the first weekend – without significant contributions from tournament veterans Sam Thompson, Shannon Scott, Amir Williams and Marc Loving.
With those four having rollercoaster seasons, it's unclear what they might be able to provide when it matters most. For some perspective, let's take a look at what they've done in previous trips to the Big Dance.
SAM THOMPSON
Sam is easily the most tournament-accomplished Buckeye on the roster.
As you'd expect, he did very little as a freshman during Ohio State's run to the Final Four. After averaging only 10 minutes per game for the year, Thompson logged just 34 total minutes in five tourney games, with 13 of those coming in mop-up duty against against 15th-seed Loyola.
Elevated to complimentary piece status as a sophomore, Thompson averaged 7.8 points on 50% shooting with 3.5 boards entering the Dance. Amid the march to the Elite Eight, Thompson burned 15-seed Iona for 20 points on 6 for 10 shooting from the floor and a perfect 8 for 8 shooting from the stripe with 10 boards. He cooled off a bit against better competition in 10-seed Iowa State, 6-seed Arizona and 9-seed Wichita State, shooting a combined 6/16 for 22 points. Still, it was a solid showing as he trumped his season averages, posting 10.5 points and 5.8 rebounds while dropping 15 of 17 free throws (88%).
As a junior last year, Thompson was one of the few bright spots in the 60-59 loss to Dayton totaling 18 points on 8 for 11 shooting including 2 for 3 from distance. The big scoring night marked just the fourth time in the the final 17 games that he went for double figures. In fact, Thompson only averaged 7.9 points for the season.
Tonight, Thompson enters the game as Ohio State's second leading scorer on the season at 10.2 points per game. With VCU intent on pressing the action defensively, Sam could be on the receiving end of a few alley-oops and a repeat shooting night such as he showed against Dayton would be welcomed by Matta.
SHANNON SCOTT
In the loss to Dayton last year, Scott missed five of six shots, adding four boards and four assists in 27 minutes. On the season, he was much more of a defensive threat (2.0 steals/game) than an offensive guy anyway thanks to 43% shooting which actually stands as his best single-season shooting performance since arriving in Columbus.
As a sophomore logging 22 minutes over OSU's four-game tournament run, Scott averaged 5.8 points, scoring no more than seven, on 42% shooting with 4.3 boards and 3.8 assists. The assists were top-heavy as 10 came against lowly Iona while Scott had just two combined in the win over Arizona followed by the loss to Wichita State.
Mirroring Thompson, Scott was largely a non-factor as a freshman on a loaded 2012 squad that made it to the Final Four. He played only 10 minutes a game during the regular season and matched that total in the Dance scoring a total of four points on 2/9 from the floor with three rebounds and three assists.
In what has been an underwhelming senior season, Scott is the team's fifth-leading scorer (8.5) on the strength of 41% shooting from the field and 29% from distance though he is still averaging 5.9 assists and 1.8 steals. A crafty performance handling the ball and making VCU pay for pressing would be huge.
AMIR WILLIAMS
How fitting is it Amir's one an only worthy performance in the NCAA Tournament occurred as a freshman? With Jared Sullinger limited due to foul trouble, Williams turned in a truly clutch 16 minute performance with four boards and two blocks along with three points and an assist. Those numbers might not jump off the page but if you watched the game, you know Amir helped Ohio State turn back Syracuse and reach the Final Four.
Ah, memories.
As a sophomore, Williams emerged as the starting center 11 games into the season and went on to post a modest 3.4 points and 3.9 boards while ranking 8th in minutes at 16.5 per game.
In the Dance, he wasn't much of a factor tallying 1.3 points and 2.8 rebounds though he did post 2.0 blocks including four against the Shockers.
Last year, Amir logged six boards in 18 minutes with zero points against Dayton.
Against a rather small, pressing VCU team, it will be interesting to see exactly how many minutes Matta gives the big man in what could be his college swan song.
TREY MCDONALD
This will be short and sweet. A career reserve, McDonald didn't score and posted two boards in nine minutes last year. As a junior, he only saw action in one of Ohio State's three tournament games scoring five points in eight minutes against Iona. It's hard to see McDonald playing more than 10-12 minutes tonight.
MARC LOVING
In what has been a disappointing and enigmatic season, Loving still ranks as Ohio State's third-leading scorer this season (9.7) and he's still shooting at a 47% clip from distance. Since his suspension back early February however Loving has reached double figures just once in eight games while missing 16 of 20 triple tries.
Last year against Dayton, Loving scored four points in eight minutes wrapping up a streak of eight straight games in which he logged less than 10 minutes.
With Ohio State counting much more heavily on Loving this year, he hasn't been consistent enough to count on but Matta would love to see him stretch the floor this weekend.
