2 Ohio State defeats 10 Georgia Tech 75-66 in the NCAA 2nd Round
Sunday in Milwaukee Wisconsin in the 2nd round of the Mid-West NCAA Region Ohio State defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 75-66 with a great second half shooting effort and a defensive strategy that limited Georgia Techs big front court. Ohio State now moves on to the Sweet 16 and is matched up against the 27-8 Tennessee Volunteers.
By Steve Patterson
Going into the match-up, Ohio State feared the play of the big front court from GT. Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors had proved that they could dominate the boards and make enough points to upset any team this season. The Buckeyes came out in a 1-3-1 zone on defense to not allow the ball to be moved into the low post. This limited the touches for the big men, who only scored 21 points with 8 rebounds combined. And Ohio State didn't have to double-team when playing the zone which allowed them break-away points at the other end of the court.
On the offensive side of the ball, OSU penetrated the gaps in the GT defense to put pressure on the big guys down low. The GT players had foul trouble in the first half that continued during of the game. Ohio State led by 2 points at half-time and they shot 65% in the second half, opening up a decent lead that Georgia Tech could not overcome. Jon Diebler played well for a second straight tournament game, finishing with 4 shots from behind the arc and 20 points total.
Georgia Tech
Gani Lawal 11 points, 4 rebounds
Derrick Favors 10 points, 4 rebounds
Glen Rice Jr 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Ohio State
Evan Turner, 24 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists
Jon Diebler 20 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
David Lighty 18 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Sweet 16
The Mid-West Sweet 16 currently features both Ohio State and the Michigan State Spartans which makes the outcome of this weeks first games intriguing. The Elite 8 could feature another matchup of the two Big Ten schools. The Spartans need to defeat Northern Iowa to take the next step in the Big Dance. In related news, Evan Turner was named today as a finalist for the Player of the Year award.
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