Ohio State Goes Cold Late In 66-64 Upset Loss At Rutgers
Ohio State suffered the same fate as No. 3 Purdue and No. 17 Michigan State earlier this season, leaving Jersey Mike’s Arena with a 66-64 loss to Rutgers on Wednesday night.
The Buckeyes jumped out to an 11-7 lead behind a pair of three-pointers from freshman guards Malaki Branham and Meechie Johnson, but the Scarlet Knights went on a 7-0 run to take a three-point lead with 13:33 remanning in the first half.
Senior forward Justin Ahrens continued his hot streak, hitting his first three-pointer of the night to give Ohio State a 17-16 lead. The teams traded buckets from there and Rutgers led just 20-19 at the under-eight timeout.
A three-pointer from senior guard Geo Baker pushed the Scarlet Knights’ lead to four before junior forward E.J. Liddell ended the Buckeyes’ scoring drought, which spanned seven missed shots.
With Johnson and fifth-year senior guard Jamari Wheeler dealing with early foul trouble, Ohio State called on fifth-year senior Cedric Russell to provide some extra minutes off the bench. He knocked in a three-pointer with just over four minutes to give Ohio State a 24-23 lead.
The back-and-forth continued in the final minutes of the first half, which featured seven ties and 10 lead changes, with sophomore guard Aundre Hyatt hitting a jumper at the buzzer to give Rutgers a 32-31 lead at intermission.
Liddell got into double figures with a three-pointer to open the scoring in the second half, while Branham followed that up with a three of his own to give the Buckeyes a 37-34 lead. But every time Ohio State put a few shots together, the Scarlet Knights answered right back behind Baker sophomore center Clifford Omoruyi.
The Buckeyes were able to open up a four-point lead when Branham hit a three-pointer with 12:56 remaining – tying the largest of the game for either team – before junior guard Paul Mulcahy cut it to one with a three-pointer of his own.
Ohio State pushed the lead when Liddell made a jumper with 8:49 remaining, but Omoruyi responded with a loud dunk on the other end.
Following a brief injury timeout for Johnson, who was helped off the court by his teammates after rolling his ankle on the foot of sophomore forward Zed Key, Wheeler hit a three-pointer to give the Buckeyes a six-point advantage.
However, Rutgers fought back late behind Baker, who scored six straight points to tie the game at 64 apiece with just over one minute remaining. The Buckeyes, meanwhile, made one of their last nine shots to that point.
Looking to give the Scarlet Knights their first lead since 52-50 with 10:46 left in the game, Baker drove and was fouled. He then made both shots to give Rutgers a 66-64 advantage, forcing Ohio State to call its final timeout with 15.4 seconds remaining.
Branham’s potential game-tying shot was blocked by senior forward Ron Harper Jr. with 3.2 seconds left, while Ahrens missed a corner three as time expired. It was the seventh miss in a row for the Buckeyes to close out the game.
Ohio State was led offensively by Branham, who scored 19 points in the losing effort. Liddell (16 points) and Key (10 points and 12 rebounds) were the only other Buckeyes in double figures.
Baker, on the other hand, scored a game-high 25 points, while Omoriyi and Mulcahy pitched in 13 and 12 points, respectively, to give Rutgers its first win in the series since Jan. 9, 2019.
With the loss, Ohio State falls to 14-6 overall and 7-4 in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes will wrap up their two-game road trip at Michigan on Saturday, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. on ESPN.
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