Wichita State was the 3rd consecutive team that was a good shooting 3 pt. squad. Add in the fact that they are physical like a Wisconsin or Michigan State and the Buckeyes had their work cut out for them. WIth Wichita nailing 3's ( they hit 5 ) and the Bucks shooting only 25% and being out rebounded by 8, Ohio State was lucky to only be trailing by thirteen, 35-22 at the half. The officiating left a lot to be desired but they were not the reason the Bucks trailed.
The second half started out as a continuation of the first. Ohio State still couldn't shoot the ball and the officating was equally bad. The Bucks trailed by 20 points with 11:48 to go. The Bucks got a little energy, led by Ross and cut the lead to 13 at the under eight minute time out.
The Bucks went on 16-4 run to cut it to 8 at the under four minute time out. Wichita State was really feeling the pressure and let the Bucks crawl back in to the game. The officiating still sucks.
The Bucks kept pressing and cut it to 3 but in the end could not get over the hump. Give Wichita State credit. They beat the #1 seed Gonzaga and the #2 seeded Buckeyes. The Bucks are left with an off season of asking the question why didn't they play that hard in the first 30 minutes of the game? Final score Wichita State 70 Ohio State 66
Game ball to DeShaun Thomas 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in what was probably his last game as a Buckeye
Game ball to LaQuinton Ross 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block
At the end of the day, and the season, The Bucks had a pretty good year. They finished the season with a 29-8 record.
