CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The ball bounced off the front of the rim as the final horn sounded, and JaQuan Lyle smacked the scorer’s table with his right hand.
His potential game-winning step-back 3-pointer from nearly 25 feet came up short and so too did Ohio State’s upset bid at No. 6-ranked Virginia. The Cavaliers, down by as many as 16 at one point in the first half, came all the way back to knock off the Buckeyes on Wednesday night, 63-61.
“Obviously, that wasn’t the shot we were designing,” Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said afterward. “But they did a great job of pressuring us out of the set.”
And truth be told, that’s pretty much what Virginia did to Ohio State throughout the entire second half.
The Buckeyes dominated the opening 20 minutes, holding a 32-16 advantage at one point, as they shot 60 percent from the field against the No. 1-ranked defensive team in the country. Ohio State was getting to the basket at will — the Buckeyes had 22 first-half points in the paint — and it scored 13 points off of seven first-half turnovers from the Cavaliers.
But in typical Virginia fashion, the Cavaliers put the clamps on the Buckeyes in the second half and they were able to make the key plays down the stretch in the game’s final four minutes to remain unbeaten.
“It hurts,” Ohio State junior forward Jae’Sean Tate said.
Hurts because this game was there for the Buckeyes to take, but some of the same mistakes this team made a year ago in the closing minutes of closely-contested ball games resurfaced.
Ohio State led 57-55 at the game’s final media timeout with 3 minutes, 10 seconds remaining. But the next six points of the game went to the Cavaliers and after two missed free throws by Virginia’s Marial Shayok gave the Buckeyes one final heave, Lyle’s game-winning 3-point attempt came up short.
In the final three minutes, Ohio State committed three turnovers and made just 1-of-3 shots from the field. In a game like this where the Buckeyes had a chance to pull the upset, those are the things that can’t happen.
“We’re just not there yet,” Matta said. “Just from the standpoint of some of things that happened you just can’t do them in a game like this. As I said, great teams make you pay and they did that.”
The turnovers were a problem all night against the Cavaliers’ vaunted defense. Virginia forced Ohio State into 20 turnovers as a team and Lyle committed eight all by himself.
“That’s just flat out unacceptable no matter whatever the deal is,” Lyle said. “Playing great defense or not, [eight] turnovers from a sophomore point guard is unacceptable.”
Matta had to leave Lyle on the floor despite his struggles with throwing it to the team in the scarlet jerseys. He’s the only player on Ohio State’s roster who can consistently beat anybody off the dribble and against Virginia, that’s something that’s desperately needed.
The Buckeyes attempted to mix and match lineups all night as they played their fourth-straight game without starting forward Keita Bates-Diop, who is still suffering from a high ankle sprain. Matta said Bates-Diop is “close,” but is still having trouble cutting so he opted not to play him despite dressing for the first time since his injury.
Ohio State used combinations of Lyle and C.J. Jackson together in addition to Lyle, Jackson and Kam Williams to give the Buckeyes a three-guard look they hadn’t shown much to this point.
Matta tried to push the right buttons to get his team to hold on down the stretch, but it simply wasn’t enough. Ohio State’s 12-point halftime lead evaporated almost instantly as Virginia scored the first 11 points of the second half. From there it was back and forth and the Cavaliers made the final plays down the stretch to pull out the win.
“We didn’t finish in the second half as good as we did in the first,” Tate said. “A lot of layups right at the rim that we’ve just got to execute and it just hurt us in the end.”
Matta and Co. will never be one to speak on moral victories, but truth be told, Ohio State can take a lot from this game. The Buckeyes pushed the No. 6-ranked team in the country to the brink and did so without one of their three best players. That’s something to build on.
On the flip side, however, Ohio State squandered a 16-point lead and was once again plagued by a lack of execution in the closing minutes of a tight game. That’s a recurring problem, and it’s one that needs to be fixed.
The Buckeyes are in a good spot, despite the loss, as this was a good litmus test to gauge where this team is at one month into the season. There's still plenty to work on, too, and Ohio State knows it.
“I think this game proved that we can compete with the top teams,” Tate said. “Everybody else look out because we’re coming.”
