Ohio State is headed to the Round of 32 for the first time in three years.
The seventh-seeded Buckeyes leaned on their defense as they made things difficult for No. 10 seed Loyola all day, ultimately securing a 54-41 win in a low-scoring Friday affair in Pittsburgh. Ohio State notched just its second win in the past six games to advance past the first round of the NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena as a week off of game action appeared to pay dividends for the scarlet and gray.
| Team | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| #7 OHIO STATE | 23 | 31 | 54 |
| #10 LOYOLA | 18 | 23 | 41 |
The Buckeyes pulled ahead by double digits early in the second half and staved Loyola off from there as they led for the entirety of the final 20 minutes. After missing the past three games with a concussion, Kyle Young returned to action and started for the Buckeyes, giving his team a major lift as Malaki Branham and E.J. Liddell led the way for Ohio State once again with 30 points combined. Young finished with nine points and seven boards in the win.
After failing to crack 20 points in the first half, even a slightly more prolific second period couldn’t save the Ramblers on a day in which the Buckeyes looked as dialed in defensively as they have been all year. Loyola finished shooting under 30 percent from the field, and star guard Lucas Williamson shot just 1-for-10 from the field.
First Half
Ohio State’s oft-criticized defense set the tone early, as the Buckeyes held Loyola to just 18 first-half points on 23.3 percent shooting as the scarlet and gray took a five-point lead to halftime. The Buckeyes hit no 3-pointers, had no second-chance points and committed eight turnovers, but led for 12:37 of the opening 20 minutes.
After an 0-for-4 start from the floor, Ohio State took its first lead of the game at the 14:35 mark, as Eugene Brown took the ball to the hoop on a dribble-drive to give the Buckeyes a 7-5 advantage with a layup.
Loyola hit just two of its first 10 shots from the floor, and both teams combined to turn the ball over seven times before eight minutes had elapsed in the opening period. Kyle Young scored five of the Buckeyes’ first nine points to give Ohio State a two-point edge at the under 12-minute timeout, but Ohio State didn’t have much more success shooting the ball than the Ramblers did to that point. Neither team hit double digits until the final eight minutes, and at the under seven-minute timeout, things were all knotted up at 11 apiece with neither side shooting above 29 percent from the field.
Ohio State got some separation in the final six minutes, though, as Branham scored four straight amid an 8-0 run that put the Buckeyes up 17-11 after a pair of Liddell free throws. Branham helped extend that lead to nine points with 2:12 to play in the first half, and the freshman had 10 points to lead all scorers through 20 minutes.
Loyola scored the final four points to take a 23-18 deficit into halftime, but the Ramblers hit just 7-of-30 shots and 3-for-13 from 3-point range as Ohio State had one of its best defensive halves of the year.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | LOYOLA |
|---|---|---|
| 54 | POINTS | 41 |
| 18-43 (41.9%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 15-56 (26.8%) |
| 1-15 (6.7%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 8-28 (28.6%) |
| 17-21 (81%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 3-10 (30%) |
| 17 | TURNOVERS | 14 |
| 41 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 31 |
| 8 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 11 |
| 33 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 20 |
| 7 | BENCH POINTS | 12 |
| 5 | BLOCKS | 2 |
| 7 | STEALS | 9 |
| 6 | ASSISTS | 12 |
Second Half
Ohio State opened the half on a 6-0 run to take its first double-digit lead of the game, 29-18, before a Loyola timeout at the 17:24 mark. Liddell scored four points during the stretch following a quiet first half for the third-team All-American.
Another Liddell jumper kept Ohio State up 10 points before a tieout at the 14:17 mark, and with six points within the first six minutes of the second half, Liddell had already scored more than he did in the entire first half.
Meechie Johnson hit his first shot of the game with 13:38 to play, and it was a big one, as the freshman guard nailed a wing three to put the Buckeyes up 13 on the Ramblers. Loyola made it a nine-point game with a corner 3-pointer amid a 6-0 run down to the 10:20 mark, but Liddell responded with a baseline jumper to put the Buckeyes back ahead by double digits.
Ohio State went up 14 points with 4:08 to go as Branham scored on a drive to the hoop, a bucket that was part of an 8-2 Buckeye run after Loyola cut the scarlet and gray lead to nine. A Braden Norris three cut the Buckeye lead back to nine with 2:19 to play, but Branham hit a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to keep Ohio State up by 11 in the final 2:04.
The Buckeyes continued to knock down free throws thereafter to close out the win, earning another NCAA Tournament game in two days’ time.
What’s Next
Ohio State will play No. 2 seed Villanova in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at 2:40 p.m. Sunday in Pittsburgh. The game will be televised on CBS.
Game Notes
- Game-time decisions ahead of Friday, Kyle Young (concussion) and Zed Key (ankle) were both available for the Buckeyes. Young made his third start of the season for the Buckeyes at the five spot.
- If you include 2019-20, when the NCAA Tournament was canceled, Ohio State has made the Big Dance five straight times. That streak is the second-longest in program history, behind only Thad Matta’s run from 2009-15.
- Ohio State dropped its first-round matchup in last year’s tournament, losing to No. 15 seed Oral Robert 75-72 in overtime on March 19, 2021.
- Friday’s game was Ohio State’s fifth all-time against Loyola since 1961, and its first in the NCAA Tournament.
- Chris Holtmann moved to 8-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with the win.
- Loyola’s 41 points were the fewest allowed by Ohio State in an NCAA Tournament game since a 46-38 win over Harvard in 1946.
- Ohio State is now 3-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Pittsburgh.
