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Bracket busters! 15-seed Oral Roberts stuns 2-seed Ohio State in 1st round upset
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Only a few games into March Madness, and we’ve seen our first major upset.
No. 15 seed Oral Roberts stunned No. 2 seed Ohio State on Friday in Mackey Arena, picking up a 75-72 overtime win. The Buckeyes became the second B1G team to be eliminated from the NCAA Tournament this year, joining Michigan State, which lost its play-in game to UCLA on Thursday night.
Both losses came in overtime at Mackey Arena.
Oral Roberts was led by Kevin Obanor with 30 points and Max Abmas who added 29. The rest of the Golden Eagles combined for 16 points in 3-point victory over Ohio State. Obanor recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds.
The Buckeyes were led in scoring by E.J. Liddell, who scored 23. Duane Washington Jr. scored 18 and C.J. Walker pitched in 12 off the bench. Both posted double-doubles, with Liddell grabbing 13 boards and Washington collected 10.
Ohio State owned a 64-60 lead with under 90 seconds to play, but Obanor knocked down four free throws to tie the game. Washington had a chance to win in regulation but missed a fadeaway jumper.
Oral Roberts scored the first five points of overtime and never relinquished the lead. The Buckeyes had a chance to force double-overtime on the final possession, but both Justin Ahrens and Washington missed 3-point shots as time expired.
The Buckeyes end the year with a 21-10 record.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB