Ohio State Falls To North Carolina In Overtime, 89-84

On Dec 17, 2022

Ohio State was just two seconds away from its first victory over North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic, but the Tar Heels tied it at the buzzer and then outscored the Buckeyes, 10-5, in overtime on their way to a 89-84 victory at Madison Square Garden.

First Half:

The Buckeyes got on the board first, as junior center Zed Key knocked down a three-pointer as the shot clock expired, but the Tar Heels went on an 11-3 run take a five-point lead into the under-16 timeout.

Ohio State battled back with an 11-1 run of its own, including seven points from freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh to take a 19-14 lead with 11:34 remaining in the first half.

Freshman center Felix Okpara blocked preseason All-American Armando Bacot and knocked down a layup at the other end. Senior guard Tanner Holden then hit a corner three-pointer to stretch the lead to eight.

Sixth-year senior forward Justice Sueing and Holden made buckets on back-to-back possessions as part of an 18-2 run for the Buckeyes as the Tar Heels missed eight consecutive shots over a five-minute period.

Ohio State stretched its lead to 14 with three-pointers by Sensabaugh and freshman guard Bruce Thornton, but Sensabuagh picked up his third foul on a Bacot and-one and North Carolina took advantage.

Bacot scored 10 straight for the Tar Heels to trim the lead to five with three minutes remaining before Thornton connected on a three-pointer. Sueing hit a three in the closing seconds to put it back to nine.

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Second Half:

North Carolina opened the second half on a 10-2 run to cut Ohio State’s lead to 46-45 with 16:27 remaining. That includes a dunk by Bacot, which gave him 18 points on the afternoon.

The Buckeyes built a small cushion after back-to-back baskets from Okpara and fifth-year senior guard Sean McNeil, whose later knocked down a three-pointer to put them up 57-50 at the under-12 timeout.

Key’s basket over Bacot with 7:15 put Ohio State ahead by 11, but a pair of turnovers against the full-court press helped the Tar Heels cut the deficit to three points at the 5:31 mark.

North Carolina tied the game at 72-all with just over two minutes remaining on a layup from R.J. Davis, who then hit a three-pointer on the next possession after a Sueing layup to put the Tar Heels ahead 75-74

Key’s three-pointer put Ohio State up by two, but Bacot tied it with a dunk with 17 seconds left. Sensabaugh knocked down what would have been the game-winner with two seconds left, but Pete Nance‘s jumper as time expired to send it to overtime.

Overtime:

The Tar Heels built a four-point lead in the early going before Thornton’s layup and free throw put the Buckeyes down one. Caleb Love’s jumper gave North Carolina a three-point lead with 2:32 left.

Okpara fouled out, sending Davis to the line for two shots, which he promptly knocked down to give the Tar Heels a five-point advantage with 1:19 remaining, which was their biggest lead of the game.