Oregon used a late 8-0 run to come back from as many as 9 down in the second half and thanks to an extremely questionable late foul call, grabbed a 1 point lead with 7 seconds to play to escape Columbus with a 73-71 win sending Ohio State down to their 6th loss of the season, dropping the Buckeyes to 10-6 and 2-3 in conference play. Oregon improved to 14-2 and 3-2. Both teams shot 42% but a late 3 point flurry by the Ducks enabled them to come back and take victory from the jaws of defeat. Oregon was led by a game and career high 24 from Jackson Shelstad and 2 from Nate Bittle. The Buckeyes were led by Bruce Thornton with 20, while John Mobley Jr. added 16, and Sean Stewart chipped in 14 points and 9 rebounds. Micah Parrish also scored 11 in the losing effort.

The Buckeyes raced out to a 5-0 lead after a Micah Parrish triple opened the scoring and John Mobley, Jr got a 10 footer to drop while falling down. Oregon scored 5 quick points to get back even, but Parrish on the dribble drive, found Sean Stewart for a lay-in. Bruce Thornton added to the lead, hitting a triple from the right wing after Devin Royal grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked to him on the right wing, but a pair of Duck free throws and a lay up in transition after an Ohio State turnover cut into the lead and at the first media timeout, Ohio State led 10-9. An Oregon triple put the Ducks on top for the first time before the Buckeyes finally broke the 7-0 run and a 3 ½ minute scoring drought when Thornton whipped a baseline pass to Evan Mahaffey in the paint for a dunk and at the under 12, the game was tied at 12. Out of the timeout, Oregon buried a pair of free throws, but the Buckeyes answered when Mobley got into the lane on a dribble drive and hit a high arcing floater. A short jumper by Oregon was answered again, this time with a pair of Stewart free throws as the game remained tied at the midpoint of the first half and triggered an 8-2 run to put Ohio State back in front. Royal fed Stewart for a lay in. After an Oregon deuce, Thornton got into the lane and hit a turnaround jumper from just below the stripe as the shot clock expired and at the under 8, Ohio State led 20-18. Coming out of the timeout, Stewart was back on the stripe where he knocked down the pair, but after an OSU turnover, Oregon got out in transition and scored on a follow after the initial shot rolled off the rim. After Royal split a pair of free throws, Oregon buried a triple to re-tie the score. The Buckeyes answered when Parrish penetrated and hit a cutting Stewart for a dunk and after a Duck turnover, Stewart penetrated and kicked to Royal on the left wing for three and at the under 4, the Buckeyes led 28-23. Stewart went back to the line out of the timeout and this time split the pair and the run continued when Parrish scored after an offensive rebound. Oregon scored along the baseline to end the 8-0 run, and after Stewart split another pair of free throws, Oregon knocked down a pair of their own to cut into the Buckeye advantage and end the first half scoring as the Buckeyes took a 32-27 lead into the locker room. Neither team shot it particularly well in the first 20 with Ohio State hitting 37.9% of their shots, including 3 of 8 from beyond the arc. Oregon was held to just 29% by an aggressive Ohio State defense, which included just 3 of 14 from long range. Ohio State forced 9 Oregon turnovers, turning them into 10 points and made 7 of 10 free throws compared to 6 of 7 for the Ducks. Ohio State was led by 12 points from Sean Stewart, including 6 rebounds and Oregon got 12 from Jackson Shelstad on 2 of 3 shooting from 3. An Oregon triple out of the timeout cut the lead to 3, but a short jumper by Stewart answered. Another Oregon triple cut the lead to 2 with 2:13 to play as the Ducks were suddenly red hot and Oregon took a quick timeout. The Buckeyes came up empty on the offensive end and the Ducks drilled another three to take their first lead since midway through the first half wit 90 seconds to play. Another Duck bucket forced Jake Diebler to take a timeout with 37 seconds to play with Oregon on an 8-0 run and now leading 70-67. Mahaffey grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 23 seconds to play and Oregon took a timeout with Ohio State employing full court pressure with Oregon leading 70-69. Out of the timeout, Thornton picked up a steal in the backcourt and Mobley was fouled attacking the rim with 12.6 to play. Mobley drilled the pair to put the Buckeyes up a point. A horrendous foul call on Glover put Oregon on the stripe with 7 seconds to play and both dropped putting Oregon on top by 1 and Thornton’s triple just before the horn banked off target and Ohio State fouled with .6 seconds to go and 1 of two fell  ending the game as the Ducks escaped Columbus thanks to a late call that went their way. 

The Ducks opened the second half with a 5-2 run to close to within two as the Buckeyes could only muster a Thornton runner off the glass. Ohio State answered with a 7-0 run of their own started by a long three by Mobley from the left wing in front of Coach Diebler and back to back Thornton buckets extended the lead to 9. Oregon stopped the run with a transition bucket and a free throw to cut into the lead, but Mobley banked in a runner in the middle of the lane as the Buckeyes took a 43-35 lead into the first media timeout of the second half. The Ducks hit the stripe coming out of the timeout and split the pair and after a Buckeye turnover, a jumper fell to cut the lead to 5 and that’s when a three point contest broke out at the Schottenstein Center. Parrish answered the mini Oregon run with a triple, but Oregon answered with a three on the other end. Parrish answered again with a three from the top, but Oregon again hit a three and Oregon took a timeout with 13:05 left and Ohio State leading 49-44. The Buckeyes added to the lead when Mobley buried 3 free throws after a wild sequence ended with Mobley being fouled attempting a three. After an Oregon bucket, Mobley scored in the paint, but Oregon scored the next 5 to get within 3. Thornton ended the run with a big triple from the left wing and an Oregon turnover, the teams adjourned to their respective benches for the under 8 timeout with the Buckeyes leading the Ducks 57-51. A Thornton high arcing shot mid-paint added to the lead, but an alley oop dunk responded quickly for Oregon. Aaron Bradshaw grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled where he connected on the pair of freebies, but 6 straight Duck points trimmed the lead to just 2 with just over 5 minutes to play. Thornton ended the run with a pair of free throws and a Thornton baseline runner took the game to the final media timeout with Ohio State leading 65-59. 

There isn’t much to say about this team that hasn’t already been said. This was one they desperately needed to have and should have ultimately won. Leading by 5 with just 2:37 remaining, the defense suddenly lost track of every shooter and a pair of threes and another bucket later, Oregon took a three point lead. While they did score 4 in a row in the closing seconds to take a lead very late and had a chance to come away with the win until the stripes took it away on a call that clearly looked like a push off on the Ducks that was whistled on Ohio State, it still shouldn’t have come to that. This game was in their hands to win and they ultimately didn’t finish. This is two losses at home that they should have had. Losing to Pitt in a game they could have had and now this one, this will absolutely hurt come tournament selection time. We have officially hit the midway point of the season and 10-6 is not where anyone wanted this team to be. With 3 of the next 5 on the road, including trips to Wisconsin and Purdue, it won’t get any easier to get the ship righted. It’s not only the midpoint, but may be a crossroads for this season. Where they go from here is up to them. They clearly need to steal a couple of those road games to offset these tough home losses. Can they do it? Time will tell, but if they can’t, the battle will be uphill the rest of the way. Plenty of basketball to play, so they need to learn from this and move forward and fight and claw to win the next one. 

The Buckeyes hit the road for their next contest, playing at Wisconsin on Tuesday night. Tip time is scheduled for 9PM, airing on Peacock. 

-Jason Harris