Ohio State Survives Season-Opening Upset Scare From Akron

Zed Key's lay up with 0.3 seconds lifted the Buckeyes past the Zips.

Author:
Brendan Gulick
Updated:
Nov 9, 2021 8:38 PM EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio - March Madness? How about November Madness?

One thing is for sure - Ohio State avoided a November nightmare and narrowly escaped a season-opening loss as Zed Key score with 0.3 seconds to play to edge Akron, 67-66.

Down 66-65 with 3.2 seconds to go, Justin Ahrens in-bounded the ball to Malaki Branham, who quickly passed to Zed Key under the basket. His lay up beat the buzzer and gave Ohio State a heart-stopping victory.

The sequence should never have been needed in the first place.

Ohio State led 65-62 as Akron brought the ball up the floor on what could have been the game's final possession. But E.J. Liddell, who finished with a fantastic double-double performance, inexplicably fouled Akron's Ali Ali on a made 3-pointer. His free throw gave Akron a 66-65 lead with just six seconds to play.

How It Happened

Ohio State got off to a bit of a slow start offensively, but Justin Ahrens hit a pair of 3-pointers that forced Akron to take a timeout with 11:51 left in the first half. The Buckeyes led 14-11 at that point.

A 13-2 run for Ohio State late in the first half gave the Buckeyes a little bit of breathing room as they took a 31-19 lead.

Graduate transfer big man Joey Brunk and true freshman guard Malachi Branham both scored their first points as Buckeyes in the first half. E.J. Liddell led the Buckeyes with 13 points in the first half and connected on 5-of-7 shooting.

Akron ripped off eight straight points in the first 1:39 of the second half to completely erase the halftime deficit. The game was tied at 36-36 after Akron's Xavier Castaneda buried a 3-pointer in front of his own bench.

Akron's offense quickly went cold though, as they missed their next seven shots and the Buckeyes regained the lead. Ohio State couldn't really capitalize on the Zips inefficiency though because it was in a major drought of its own. Ohio State missed eight straight shots and 12 of 14 spanning the end of the first half and the first 8:29 of the second half.

Akron actually took its first lead since 10:40 in the first half when Castaneda buried a 3-ball with just under eight minutes to play.

Malaki Branham hit his first huge bucket as a Buckeye, burying a game-tying 3-ball with about 5:30 remaining.

E.J. Liddell gave us our first ear-splitting moment of the season. He had a great steal and fast break lay-up, drawing a foul in the process. Liddell missed the free throw and the lead stayed at two. Akron answered with a 3-ball quickly on the other end to take the lead back 60-59.

After several chaotic sequences, Branham finally scored to give Ohio State a 63-62 lead with 1:27 to play.

A double-double from Liddell and late baskets from Branham and Zed Key looked like it might be enough, but the Buckeyes needed the late magic from Key to seal the win.

A Look At The Box Score

E.J. Liddell led the Buckeyes with a double-double. He finished the game with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

Notables

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann and Akron head coach John Groce are close friends and former teammates. They both played for the late Hall of Fame coach at Taylor University, Paul Patterson, who passed away this past September. Both coaches started their careers as assistants at their alma mater and then connected again in 2008 when Groce hired Holtmann as his first assistant at Ohio.

In addition to Taylor and their time together at Ohio, the two have also shared roles at other schools. Groce was an assistant at Butler during the 2000-01 season while Holtmann was an assistant at Butler in 2013-14 and head coach from 2014-17. Groce was also an assistant at Ohio State from 2004–08, while Holtmann has been head coach of the Buckeyes for the last four seasons.

Holtmann's team is the most experienced in the country as the season begins. Ohio State's roster includes players that have combined for 1,001 games played during their collegiate careers.

It sure was nice to have fans back in The Schott. While fans were welcome to attend the preseason exhibition against the University of Indianapolis last week, it's been 614 days since fans last attended a regular season game in person.

More to come from Columbus after Chris Holtmann's postgame press conference.

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