Each year following the National Championship, a montage of the NCAA Tournament plays to the tune of One Shining Moment, filled with the best scenes from March Madness. Let’s look back at Ohio State basketball’s One Shining Moment from the 2021-22 season.
Turn back the clocks with me to late November — the 30th since a few days prior is now forbidden. The eighth game of Coach K’s farewell tour was off to a solid start for Duke as they later stretched the lead to 15 points. The Buckeyes found themselves down 13 at the half to the No. 1 team in the country.
Ohio State then found its Key to fuel the comeback by the name of Zed as he began taking over the game. As Key, Liddell, and Russel fueled the offense. Key finished with a career-high 20 points, which led all scorers. The defense truly allowed the Buckeyes to erase the steep deficit. Ohio State held Duke scoreless in the final four and a half minutes and kept the Blue Devils under 39% from the field and 28% behind the arc. In comparison, the Buckeyes found a way to shoot 48% from the field and 40% from three.
EJ Liddell posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. But it was Cedric Russell who knocked down three monster 3-pointers to bring Ohio State back in the game. His 12 points were arguably the biggest of the Buckeyes’ 71 on the night.
Cedric Russell came up CLUTCH. pic.twitter.com/ReWiQTkDz6
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 1, 2021
Ohio State pulled within one as Liddell stood at the free-throw line with 1:06 remaining. The star knocked down both shots to give the Buckeyes their first lead since the beginning of the first half. Liddell, nearly a minute later, hit a jumper with ice in his veins to make it a three-point Ohio State lead.
Duke’s Paulo Banchero got the opportunity to tie the game on the other end but missed the tying three. Cedric Russel was then fouled and given a chance to close the game at the line. He drilled the pair to make it 71-66, which ended up being the final.
The Buckeye faithful stormed the court at the Schottenstein Center as Ohio State conquered No. 1 Duke for the second time in a row following the football team’s loss to the Team Up North just three days prior. The Buckeyes have now won each of its last two matchups against the country’s No. 1 ranked team at home. Beating the Blue Devils at home is undoubtedly the best moment of Ohio State’s rollercoaster 2021-22 season.
Image Credit: The Ohio State University Department of Athletics
Blake Biscardi, a native of Pickerington, Ohio, is The Silver Bulletin’s Senior Editor and Host of the Saturday Cadence podcast, a national college football show. As a trusted voice on Ohio State, the Big Ten, and College Football Playoff since 2016, Blake has worked multiple ventures, namely FanSided (2018-2021) before TSB. Blake is a proud member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and a two-time Graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia.