Ohio St. Stays on Comeback Trail: Buckeyes Follow Xavier Rally By Erasing 20-Point Deficit to Beat V

Mar 23, 05:23 AM

Current Headlines: By Moisekapenda Bower, Houston Chronicle

Mar. 23--SAN ANTONIO -- Having already come face-to-face with its NCAA Tournament mortality via its second-round overtime victory over Xavier, No. 1 Ohio State had a sensible plan for how to escape the 20-point, first-half hole it dug on Thursday evening.

The Buckeyes kept playing.

With fifth-seeded Tennessee doing its best to shoot the lights out at the Alamodome, the Buckeyes recalled their recent brush with elimination and rallied for a dramatic 85-84 victory to set a Saturday date opposite No. 2 seed Memphis in the South Region final.

The Volunteers (24-11) shot a robust 55.9 percent (19-for-34) before intermission, extending to a 49-29 lead when Chris Lofton hit a layup with 35 seconds left in the half. But the Buckeyes (33-3) didn't flinch, and when freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr., sank a free throw with 6.5 seconds left, Ohio State secured its 20th consecutive win.

"I don't know if I've seen too many like that in the NCAA Tournament," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "Tennessee blitzed us in the first half. We went in wounded, and I didn't like our body language. We talked at halftime about what we had to do to chip away.

"I'm proud of the way we came back in the second half and were able to make the plays down the stretch to win the basketball game and advance."

The Buckeyes' comeback was accomplished largely with star center Greg Oden on the bench. Oden had 24 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks in the Buckeyes' 68-66 win over Tennessee in Columbus on Jan. 13, but he played just 18 minutes in the rematch because of foul woes, pairing nine points with three boards. Oden did record four blocks, including one on a desperate shot by Tennessee guard Ramar Smith at the final buzzer.

After Ron Lewis gave Ohio State a 10-9 lead with a dunk at the 16:41 mark, the Volunteers reeled off a 25-8 blitz over the next 10 minutes. Ohio State cut into its 49-32 halftime deficit with a 12-2 burst out of the break, and that run continued steadily until Matt Terwilliger gave the Buckeyes a 66-64 lead on two free throws with 8:34 left.

Tennessee wouldn't back down. Lofton (24 points) kept firing away, and the Volunteers added seven second-half 3-pointers to the nine they nailed before intermission. But while they shot 16-for-31 from behind the arc, the Volunteers were just 8-of-17 from the line, and down the stretch, their inability to convert free throws kept Ohio State in the mix.

"We're terribly disappointed," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. "We've proven that we can beat the best teams in the country. We've also proven that we can come close to beating the best teams in the country."

The Buckeyes didn't need much help. They shot 58.3 percent (14-for-24) in the second half and scored 20 of their 53 points from the line. And the lessons they learned against Xavier were applied against Tennessee, even with the pressure ratcheted up a notch.

"This comeback was much more at our pace and in our hands from the second half (on)," said Lewis, who scored a game-high 25 points. "The Xavier one, we had to chip away at the last four or five minutes of the game. This time we had to do it in the second half."

mk.bower@chron.com

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