Ad Disclosure
Trouble brewing: 15-seed Oral Roberts leads 2-seed Ohio State at half thanks to Max Abmas
Published:
Is the first major upset of the 2021 NCAA Tournament already brewing?
That’s the way it looks through the first half of Friday afternoon’s first round matchup between No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 15 seed Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles have caused all kinds of problems for the Buckeyes and own a 36-33 lead at the break.
Ohio State had no answer for Oral Roberts star Max Abmas, who scored 18 points in the first 20 minutes of action from Mackey Arena in West Lafayette. He knocked down 5-of-7 shots from 3-point range to help the Golden Eagles build that lead.
Oral Roberts also got 10 points from Kevin Obanor.
Duane Washington Jr. was the leading scorer for Ohio State, ending the half with 11 points on making 3 triples. Justice Sueing scored 7 and E.J. Liddell added 6.
The Buckeyes need to find an answer for Abmas in the second half, but it won’t be easy. The sophomore guard averaged 24.2 points per game and shot 48.4% from the floor for the season.
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