Virginia defeated Ohio State 70-66 in Nashville despite 28 points from Bruce Thornton and a valiant defensive effort from the Buckeyes.

Ohio State walked into Nashville looking for a huge Quad 1 victory to add to its NCAA Tournament resume. They played this contest without Shooting Guard, John Mobley Jr., who the Buckeyes announced before the game would be out indefinitely with a hand injury he suffered against USC.  

The Buckeyes started in a hurry with a three-pointer from Amare Bynum off the assist from Christoph Tilly. Virginia answered quickly after with two jumpers of their own. First-time starter Taison Chatman then came back down the court and answered with a 15-foot jumper of his own. This led to a 9-0 run for Ohio State, with Chatman accounting for 4 points and an assist to Ivan Njegovan, which put the Buckeyes up 12-4.

The Buckeyes continued their run, as at one point they held a 17-6 lead at the fourteen-minute mark. Virginia would go on their own 9-0 run to cut the lead to two points at the under-12 TV timeout. Both teams traded shots back and forth, most notably Amare Bynum draining a three-pointer as the shot clock hit zero. The Cavaliers saw the majority of their scoring from their bench. At the end of the first half, they scored 21 of their 37 points. Ohio State finished the half off strong when Devin Royal, Bruce Thornton, and Amare Bynum each scored in the paint to even the score at 37 going into the break.

The second half began with Bruce Thornton connecting with two mid-range shots and a successful challenge to put the Buckeyes ahead 41-37. Virginia came back with a 5-0 run of their own to retake the lead at the sixteen-minute mark. Ohio State answered with a 4-0 run of their own off a Bynum fast-break steal to go into the under-16 timeout with a 45-41 lead. 

This was the Bruce Thornton game, as he was the X-Factor in the second half for the Buckeyes. Thornton finished the first half with eight points, and at the under-12 timeout, he had 26 of Ohio State’s 59 points. This was a game of runs by both teams. Virginia came out of the under twelve to go on a 7-0 run themselves after a pair of back-to-back turnovers by Taison Chatman and Amare Bynum before Coach Diebler called a timeout with seven minutes to go. 

Both teams went cold for five of the last seven minutes of the contest as the defenses for each squad showed their best looks. Ohio State was quiet from the field for four minutes, not scoring a single point before an Amare Bynum three-pointer cut it to a two-point game with 30 seconds left. A Sam Lewis miss at the free throw line kept it a one-score game before a Bruce Thornton jump shot was tipped, leading to two Virginia free throws. Christoph Tilly would then take an open dunk, followed by Taison Chatman’s questionable steal attempt not called in his favor.

Virginia was able to make the necessary stops to close out a huge neutral-site victory in their race to a regular-season ACC Championship race. 

Ohio State drops to 16-9 on the season with the 70-66 loss against Virginia. It was a good fight from the Buckeyes, but not being able to see the ball go through the net for four straight minutes came back to bite them in the end. The Buckeyes are now 0-6 against Top 25 teams this season with this loss. Tuesday’s game against Wisconsin is becoming a must-win to keep March Madness hopes alive.