The Drought is Over
Caleb Downs scores Ohio State’s first punt return touchdown since 2014.
Ohio State had a victory in hand. Not quite, but close enough to think it could make one final play to wrap things up. After all, the Buckeyes had multiple opportunities to do so Saturday.
But they didn’t slam the door shut, and with a team as dangerous as North Carolina on the other side, it’s no real shock that the scarlet and gray slunk out of Madison Square Garden empty-handed despite digging deep in an overtime thriller.
The game wouldn’t have even gone to an extra period had Ohio State gotten one last stop in regulation. Brice Sensabaugh looked like he iced the game with a clutch mid-range jumper to put Ohio State up two points with exactly two seconds left on the clock. But the Tar Heels advanced the ball past halfcourt, called timeout and drew up one final play.
Pete Nance caught the ball on the wing, turned around and made the game-tying 2-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
WE'RE HEADED TO OT IN MSG @UNC_Basketball pic.twitter.com/qEOStWJA1W
— CBS Sports CBB (@CBSSportsCBB) December 17, 2022
“Just disappointed because we were right there. We had a tough shot at the end of regulation to force OT, but just, like I said, there's always those one or two possessions that we really could have locked down on and taken care of the ball a little bit better that could have prevented that,” Justice Sueing said after the game. “That's what it comes down to at the end of the game. It's a one- or two-possession game. That's why I was most disappointed because we were right there.”
That was the beginning of the end for the Buckeyes, who were barely holding on at the end of regulation to stave off a late Tar Heel surge.
Ohio State had a 10-point lead (68-58) after a Bruce Thornton jumper with 6:44 to play. But a key defensive adjustment from Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels changed the game thereafter during a sequence that was every bit as consequential as Nance’s buzzer-beater.
North Carolina employed a full-court press that the Buckeyes didn’t quite appear ready for, with the intensity ratcheted up another notch by the howling Tar Heel fans in attendance. And yes, they far outnumbered any scarlet-clad supporters in the building.
Not so neutral territory in MSG as Buckeye fans are vastly outnumbered by the Tar Heel faithful: pic.twitter.com/q1WMmLjnN6
— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) December 17, 2022
Thirty-nine seconds after giving up a pair of UNC free throws on a Bruce Thornton turnover caused by the Tar Heel press, North Carolina caused a five-second violation that gave it the ball back. Tar Heel guard Caleb Love then knocked down a triple that made it a five-point game. Sean McNeil turned the ball over again 29 seconds later to surrender, leading to another North Carolina trip to the free-throw line as it continued to chip away at the lead.
Next, an Ohio State shot clock violation allowed North Carolina to tie things up with 2:10 to go. At 1:29, a Tar Heel three gave North Carolina its first lead of the second half.
The Buckeyes’ 16 turnovers were only three more than UNC’s final total, and that’s not even the most Ohio State has committed this season. But given how efficient North Carolina was at turning those errors into points, they might as well have been a death sentence for the Buckeyes – especially late in the game. The Tar Heels scored 27 points off of the Buckeyes’ turnovers, while Ohio State put up just 12 points on North Carolina’s 13 giveaways.
“Just taking care of the ball, that's always been a key emphasis for us. The other team took advantage of us towards the end of the game to make a little bit of a run and close that gap and make it a one-possession game to go into OT,” Sueing said. “It just comes down to stuff we can fix easily and stuff we've got to work on and build. Unfortunately, we took a lot today from it. We've got to learn from this, and later in the season there's going to be many games like this where we need to come out with a win.”
But even after the aforementioned stretch at the end of regulation, which left the door wide open for North Carolina to complete its comeback, the Buckeyes still had a chance in the final moments of overtime. Down three points with 13.4 on the clock, Ohio State could’ve tied things up again on an inbounds setpiece on the Tar Heels’ side of the floor.
Instead, the play wound up as another missed opportunity. Another ill-timed turnover was the cause.
Zed Key was whistled for a travel when he double-clutched a 3-pointer with 11 seconds to play, and the Buckeyes squandered their final shot at correcting the mistakes made in regulation. RJ Davis sank two free throws at the other end, adding more tallies to the Tar Heels’ points off turnovers total, and the night was lost for the Buckeyes.
Holtmann has lauded the play of Thornton as he’s gotten more comfortable during the first 10 games of his freshman season. Just look at the Buckeyes’ previous game against Rutgers, when Thornton made the game-winning assist to set up Tanner Holden’s buzzer-beater. On Saturday, though, Thornton had a career-high five turnovers, and both McNeil and Sensabaugh added three apiece.
“I mean, it's part of the game. I think we had some careless turnovers in the open floor. I think that was most disappointing, that led to some of their scores,” Holtmann said. “Just fumbled the ball, uncharacteristic with a couple of our guys who haven't done that all year. So we'll get better with it.”
Holtmann acknowledged that some of the decision-making from his ball handlers was “poor” down the stretch and said the Buckeyes may need to “play with” how they handle a full-court press in such a situation moving forward.
Ohio State still has two more mid-major matchups to shore up any deficiencies before Big Ten play resumes on Jan. 1. But when that happens, the Buckeyes will find themselves in plenty more situations like the ones they encountered on Saturday. And whether or not they limit mistakes late in games could determine exactly how far Holtmann’s team can go.
