Ohio State MBB: Too Little Too Late in Tournament Loss to the TCU Horned Frogs
· Yahoo Sports
It was upsets galore in the first slate of games in Thursday's NCAA Tournament.
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Ohio State's loss to the TCU Horned Frogs wasn't a major one, but the Buckeyes were definitely the favorites coming into the game.
What they did in the first half was a total embarrassment for head coach Jake Diebler's squad.
Ohio State came out and let TCU take it to them from the opening tip until the first half horn hit zero. The Buckeyes went into halftime trailing 39-24 and on the brink of being blown out by the Frogs.
For as bad as the first half was for the Buckeyes, the second half was equally good. Ohio State could have absolutely rolled over and died, but they got back up and fought like heck to get back into the game, and they did just that.
They chipped away, chipped away, and chipped away some more until they totally erased the TCU lead with an Amare Bynum layup with 7:41 seconds to go in the game to take a 51-50 lead.
Then, it was back and forth over the last quarter, where the two teams traded leads, and then under a minute, it was total fireworks.
Tied at 61, TCU brought the ball down the court, ran a little bit of offense, and until their guard Micah Robinson rose up from three and nailed it, giving TCU a 64-61 lead.
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Tie game, pandemonium in Greenville.
It didn't last long, as TCU inbounded the ball with just 35 seconds remaining and methodically brought it up the court. They got into some slow-developing offense that brought the ball into the paint with under 10 seconds remaining.
Xavier Edmunds got into his post action and dropped a shot through the hoop with 4.1 seconds left.
Then, Jake Diebler and the Buckeyes made the ultimate blunder.
Ohio State needed to go 94 feet to get a bucket, and their best player was given the ball to inbound it. He entered it into his center, which flipped it back to Thornton after wasting a second.
Thornton dribbled up the court and heaved a half-hearted attempt to the bucket that came up short. Diebler was quoted after the game saying that he wanted to give Thornton the opportunity to get the ball and make a play, or call a timeout that they didn't have.
A total disappointment for the Buckeyes after they had so much excitement surrounding them and the program heading into the tournament. Instead, they head back to Columbus empty-handed with their chins buried after their first-round exit.
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