Chris Holtmann, Justice Sueing credit ‘good’ UNC after OT loss in CBS Sports Classic
Ohio State basketball had every chance to hand the preseason No. 1 team, North Carolina, its fifth loss of the 2022-23 season — and before a raucous crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York — but a buzzer-beating shot by Pete Nance sent the game to overtime, where the Tar Heels emerged with an 89-84 CBS Sports Classic win. The result left Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann and forward Justice Sueing searching for questions after OSU blew a double-digit lead.
For No. 23 Ohio State (7-3, 1-0 Big Ten), the game represented a missed opportunity — the Buckeyes led by as many as 14 points in a dominant first-half showing, going into the locker room with a nine-point lead, but Ohio State struggled with North Carolina’s press. It was one that helped the Tar Heels (8-4, 1-1 ACC) win the final 10 minutes of regulation by 10 points, including Nance’s fadeaway as time expired to add five more minutes to the clock.
In overtime, R.J. Davis made sure the Buckeyes did not get their own chance to tie things up with a pair of late free throws, giving the Tar Heels their biggest win of the season to date.
Here is what Sueing and Holtmann said afterward.
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