Villanova Defeats Ohio State, 71-61, in Second Round of NCAA Tournament

The Buckeyes’ postseason run came to a close Sunday as No. 2 seed Villanova staved off an upset bid by seventh-ranked Ohio State, earning a trip to the Sweet 16 with a 71-61 victory at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh while the Buckeyes head back to Columbus with just one win in the Big Dance.

Although it put up a fight through the middle of the second half, Ohio State never recovered from a slow start that saw it hit just two of its first 10 shots. An early flurry from two-time reigning Big East Player of the Year Collin Gillespie had the Buckeyes playing catchup from there on out, but Ohio State would ultimately make a late run.

Outmatched on the inside in the first half, the Buckeyes played with a renewed sense of vigor on the glass in the second, which helped them cut a 15-point Villanova lead to just six points with less than eight minutes to play. Freshman guard Malaki Branham was key in engineering the comeback, and he found Jamari Wheeler for a 3-pointer to cut it to a 2-point game in the final five minutes.

A crucial Villanova three with 98 seconds left kept the Wildcats ahead eight down the stretch, and the Buckeyes could not complete a comeback to extend their season. After being hot from the floor for most of the second half, a three-minute scoring drought in the final four minutes helped halt Ohio State’s momentum.

Gillespie led Villanova with 20 points while Branham had 23 for the Buckeyes, including 15 in the second half, and E.J. Liddell scored 17 in what is likely to be his final game for Ohio State.

First Half

After a period in which the Buckeyes shot just 38.5 percent from the floor to 52 percent for the Wildcats, Villanova took a 39-28 lead over Ohio State at the intermission. The Buckeyes were outrebounded 19-11 and scored half as many points in the paint as Villanova mounted an early advantage.

Gillespie scored 10 straight points for the Wildcats from 14:51 to 12:24, and his final three shots in that stretch – including two 3-pointers – gave Villanova a 17-7 lead to force a Buckeye timeout after an 8-0 run. On the other end, Ohio State started just 2-for-10 from the floor and committed three turnovers in the opening seven minutes and change.

Ohio State appeared to pick up some steam five minutes later, as Malaki Branham dished out back-to-back impressive assists down low to help cut the Wildcat lead to six points, but the freshman turned the ball over on the next possession to lead to a Villanova fastbreak.

With a 6-0 run from 5:31 to 4:05, Villanova opened up an 11-point lead on the Buckeyes, and with four more Wildcat points after a subsequent Branham three, the advantage was pushed to 12 with 1:38 to go. E.J. Liddell banked in a 3-pointer to make it a single-digit game with 18 seconds to play, but a Buckeye foul on the final Villanova possession allowed the Wildcats to go up 11 again before the half.

Gillespie and Liddell led all scorers with 12 apiece for their team, and besides Liddell and Branham for the Buckeyes, the rest of the team scored just eight points on 3-for-12 shooting.

Second Half

Villanova big man Eric Dixon, who had hit just 14 threes all season entering Sunday, knocked one down from the wing at the 18:10 mark to put the Wildcats up 15 points while the Buckeyes struggled to keep up early in the second half. By the first media timeout of the final period, four Wildcats had already broken the double-digit point barrier.

But the Buckeyes showed signs of life a couple minutes later, as Branham scored six straight points for Ohio State 16:38 to 14:24, and a Kyle Young layup after that made it a 6-0 run for the Buckeyes to cut the Wildcat lead to nine points.

Ohio State hit seven of its first 11 shots to start the second half, but Villanova’s offensive pace didn’t slow up much either. Following Branham’s fourth turnover of the game at the 11:43 mark, Ohio State still trailed Villanova by 12 at the under 12-minute media timeout.

The Buckeyes stayed with it, though, creating second-chance points on the offensive glass, and a Branham three at the 9:40 mark made it a six-point game. Villanova responded with a score 34 seconds later, but Branham converted again on a midrange jumper to keep it a six-point Wildcat lead in the final eight minutes.

Branham banked in a long 2-pointer to make it a four-point game after that, but Villanova answered with a three on the next possession to silence the Buckeye crowd. Ohio State’s comeback did not stop there, as a three from Wheeler cut it to a two-point Wildcat lead with 5:39 to play.

But Villanova held onto a five-point lead with two minutes to play, and a three from Dixon with 1:38 to go put a stamp on things late. The Wildcats pulled away even further at the free-throw line to finish things off and earn a spot in the Sweet 16.

Game Notes

• Jay Wright earned his fifth win in his eighth meeting with Chris Holtmann, spanning the latter’s time at both Butler and Ohio State, as the former Big East rivals are now 5-3 all-time as head coaches.
• Young made his second straight start for the Buckeyes, and just his fourth of the year, despite missing the previous three games prior to the NCAA Tournament with a concussion. However, Young left the game late in the second half after appearing to sustain another blow to the head.
• Holtmann fell to 8-7 in NCAA Tournament play with the loss, and has now failed to get past the second round on three occasions during his five-year tenure with the Buckeyes.
• Ohio State last made the Sweet 16 under Thad Matta during the 2012-13 season.
• Ohio State finishes the season with a 20-12 record.