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Rapid Reaction: Ohio State shuts down Loyola-Chicago, advances to next round of NCAA Tournament
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Ohio State had a tough task ahead of them stopping one of the better offense in the NCAA Tournament. It looks like they stood up to the challenge after all, beating Loyola-Chicago 54-41.
E.J. Liddell improved on his 1st half efforts, leading the team in scoring with 16 points. He also had a double-double with his 10 rebounds as well. Malaki Branham was the team’s runner up in scoring with 14 points after the final buzzer sounded.
As a whole, Ohio State didn’t improve much on its shooting performance from the 1st half. The Buckeyes shot 41% from the floor, and 6.7% from 3-point range. One place that they did shoot well from was the free-throw line, as Ohio State was 81% on free throws.
The defense was the biggest part of this win. Ohio State is now 39-0 under Chris Holtmann when holding teams to under 60 points in a game. The Ramblers had a 26% field goal percentage, and 28% 3-point percentage. Ohio State also forced some more turnovers in the 2nd half, ending the game with 14 turnovers forced. The Buckeyes also out-rebounded the Ramblers 41-31.
Ohio State will now await the winner of Villanova-Delaware, and will play on Sunday.
Grant Bricker covers the B1G for Saturday Tradition. His previous stops include the Williamson Homepage and Nashville Post.