Ohio State‘s first season under Chris Holtmann came to an end in a 2018 NCAA Tournament loss to Gonzaga on Sunday.
Below is our running commentary from throughout the game.
Ohio State-Gonzaga basketball score, live updates
Final score: Gonzaga 90, Ohio State 84. The Buckeyes didn’t make this easy, dragging the final minute out as long as possible, but Gonzaga was just too much. Keita Bates-Diop swished a three at the buzzer after a Gonzaga fast-break dunk to end it.
Gonzaga 86, Ohio State 74, 41 second left: Ohio State looks totally cooked here.
Ohio State isn’t going easily. Here’s Musa Jallow leaving it all on the floor going for a lose ball:
.@OhioStateHoops leaving it all out on the court down the stretch! 💪#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/wprTHdeIka — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 18, 2018
Gonzaga 78, Ohio State 70, 1:46 left: Zach Norvell is on fire for Gonzaga, and Jae’Sean Tate just fouled out. Ohio State’s season is on life support all of a sudden.
Gonzaga 73, Ohio State 67, 2:19 left. Rui Hachimura made four 3-pointers all season coming into this game, so naturally he sunk a trey with the shot clock winding down to extend Gonzaga’s lead. That’s bananas.
Gonzaga 70, Ohio State 67, 4:35 left: The Zags have swerved back into the lead. Ohio State’s gone on a bit of a scoring drought, but Keita Bates-Diop is still doing all he can for OSU. He has 23 points, which ties him for the game lead with Gonzaga’s Zach Norvell.
Ohio State 58, Gonzaga 54, 10:11: Ohio State is on a 12-2 run, and Gonzaga hasn’t scored in over two minutes of game time. The No. 4-seed Zags are only 4-for-12 this half, while Ohio State is 10-for-19. Gonzaga has 5 turnovers to OSU’s 2 in this half.
Gonzaga 54, Ohio State 53, 11:31 left: Folks, this looks like it’ll be a nerve-racking second half. The Buckeyes got within one point on a Keita Bates-Diop layup, which gives him 16 points for the day. Those shooting percentages are evening out, as Ohio State is at 44 and Gonzaga is at 52.
Gonzaga 49, Ohio State 46, 17:24 to go: Hello! Ohio State is getting real close thanks to a 13-5 run to start the half. Kam Williams has two buckets so far this half to bring his total to 12.
Second half time!
Halftime: Gonzaga 44, Ohio State 33. The Buckeyes probably shouldn’t have let Gonzaga score the first 15 points of the game, in my opinion. OSU’s shooting 39 percent, while the Zags are at a scorching 58. That’ll need to even out for Ohio State to have a chance.
Gonzaga 34, Ohio State 25, 3:45 left: Gonzaga’s still keeping the Buckeyes at an arm’s length. Zach Norvell has 12 points for the Zags, and Ohio State’s 5-for-8 shooting on threes doesn’t make up for its 4-for-16 shooting on twos.
Gonzaga 27, Ohio State 16, 7:45 left: Ohio State is creeping back, and Gonzaga hasn’t made a field goal in over two minutes. Keita Bates-Diop (7 points) and Kam Williams (8) are the Buckeyes’ leading scorers so far.
Gonzaga 19, Ohio State 11, 11:46 left: Ohio State made four shots in a row after missing its first seven. This is becoming a game again, which is nice because I was beginning to worry. OSU’s now 3-for-11 from the field, while Gonzaga is 8-for-14.
Gonzaga 17, Ohio State 8, 13:06 left. Ohio State is finally getting some points! It was bound to happen eventually, and the Buckeyes are finally on the scoreboard.
Gonzaga 13, Ohio State 0, 15:24. Oof. This is looking a lot like the November matchup between these teams, which Gonzaga won comfortably. The Bulldogs look comfortable and are knocking down shots. The Buckeyes can’t do much on offense, and aren’t providing much resistance on D.
Gonzaga 7, Ohio State 0, 16, 16:37 left. The Zags are off to a decidedly better start, as Ohio State can’t seem to find the bottom of the net. Kaleb Wesson has OSU’s best shot attempt, but his layup attempt swirled around, almost went down, then rimmed out. Wesson then received a flagant foul for hitting a Gonzaga player above the neck.
***
Alright, tipoff incoming. Ohio State vs. Gonzaga for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. The winner will face Xavier or Florida State.
We’re getting close to tipoff. Chris Holtmann is having some staffers wear the polos from the PK80 Tournament, where Ohio State lost to Gonzaga earlier this season. That’s something.
Ohio State staffers are wearing the PK80 polos from the beatdown in November against Gonzaga. Clever bit of motivation from Chris Holtmann. pic.twitter.com/3nD1v85oJs — Austin Ward (@AWardSports) March 17, 2018
The polos aren’t it, either. Holtmann has a theme.
Saw these bags in Ohio State’s locker room yesterday as well. The desire for retribution in the “Revenge Bracket” is real. pic.twitter.com/jsykGtskRy — Austin Ward (@AWardSports) March 17, 2018
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2018 NCAA Tournament: Ohio State-Gonzaga date, time
Ohio State and Gonzaga play at 7:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 17.
Time: 7:45 p.m. ET
Date: Saturday, March 17
Location: Taco Bell Arena, Boise, Idaho
2018 NCAA Tournament: Ohio State-Gonzaga TV channel
Ohio State-Gonzaga will be broadcast on CBS. Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Chris Webber (analysis) and Lisa Byington (sideline) will be on the call.
How can I watch Ohio State-Gonzaga online?
The game — and all NCAA Tournament games — will be streaming on the March Madness Live app.
How can I listen to the Ohio State-Gonzaga basketball game on the radio?
Paul Keels will have the call on 97.1 FM (WBNS) in Columbus. A full list of Buckeyes basketball radio affiliates can be found here. It also will be broadcast on Sirius 138/XM 202 for satellite radio listeners.
Ohio State-Gonzaga basketball preview
Ohio State will look to reverse its worst loss of the season when it faces off against Gonzaga. The loss showed the Buckeyes how much work they needed to do to earn a spot among the nation’s best basketball teams.
“I’ve got so much respect for them after playing them,” Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann said Thursday. “I’d never coached against a Gonzaga team before. Mark [Few] does such a fantastic job. They’re physical. They’re tough. They’re very talented. I thought that they’re one of the top one or two teams we played all year. They are one of the very best teams we played all year. And they handed it to us. So we’ll go back and we’ll watch that.
“How much they’ve changed and we’ve changed, I don’t know, because I didn’t follow them as much. But they smacked us around pretty good.”
The Buckeyes seem to believe they’re a different team, which makes sense given how well they’ve played since an up-and-down first month. A stretch of 17 wins in 19 games helped change the team’s trajectory.
“It was a long time ago,” Buckeyes forward Keita Bates-Diop said. “We’re two completely different teams, especially us. I remember they were obviously big and long. But they killed us on the big point shooting, I’m pretty sure. That was months ago. And not even close to the same team.”
Added guard Kam Williams: “We’re nowhere near the team we were back then. We’ve progressed in so many different areas. And the whole team is excited for this one. We’ve been wanting this matchup ever since the bracket came out. Hopefully when they take the court they’ll feel us, because they didn’t feel us in the first game.”
CLOSE SportsPulse: Loyola-Chicago upset No. 3 Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA tournament with another dramatic, last-second victory. USA TODAY Sports
Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Rui Hachimura (21) goes up for a shot during the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at Taco Bell Arena. (Photo: Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports)
The narrative before 2015's NCAA tournament was that Gonzaga — a mid-major turned powerhouse — underachieved in the Big Dance. That was after five consecutive Round of 32 exits, including 2013 when the 'Zags were a No. 1 seed.
And even though coach Mark Few had gotten the program to several Sweet 16s before that, there was a wall standing in front of the program ever since its Cinderella Elite Eight run in 1999.
But last year's national runner-up finish bulldozed that wall. And following Saturday's impressive 90-84 victory against Ohio State, Gonzaga has now reached four consecutive Sweet 16s.
This team isn't as good as last year's Final Four team talent-wise. But the difference between good teams and good programs is that NCAA tournament success usually rewards the latter.
CINDERELLA: Six reasons Loyola-Chicago is legit
SWEET 16-BOUND: Kansas shakes off Seton Hall
On Saturday, Gonzaga showed poise and fight down the stretch. With the game tied 67-67 with five minutes left, Gonzaga staged an 11-2 run to put the game out of reach and handily fend off Ohio State's counter-punches.
Freshman Zach Norvell Jr. (28 points) gives Few a future All-American guard in the same stratosphere as Nigel Williams-Goss, Kevin Pangos and Dan Dickau. And sophomore Rui Hachimura's 25 points off the bench were a major difference-maker in shaking off OSU's rallies and killing the Buckeyes' momentum swings.
Regardless of what this Sweet 16 team does in Los Angeles, one thing is clear: The future is as bright as ever in Spokane.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NCAA TOURNAMENT'S SECOND ROUND
STANFORD, Calif. – For the Gonzaga women, this wasn’t about rising to the occasion.
This was about getting down and dirty in the mosh pit known as Maples Pavilion, about matching up with Stanford in the paint on the Cardinal’s home floor.
Ultimately they couldn’t, and Stanford pushed its way through the first round of the NCAA Tournament with an 82-68 win Saturday afternoon.
Gonzaga pushed back, but Stanford fell back on some old weapons and used some new ones to advance to a second-round game on Monday against Florida Gulf Coast.
The Cardinal used tough defense in the paint, a commanding performance on the boards and some unexpected hot shooting from outside to pull away from the Zags.
Ahead by four points after 10 minutes, Stanford had big runs in each of the middle quarters to take a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter.
“Stanford was too tough for us to stop on the glass today,” GU coach Lisa Fortier said as her team ended the season at 27-6.
“Unfortunately, that was a big key for us, and I thought, at times, we did enough offensively and executed well enough, but they had too many second-chance points and too many rebounds.”
The final tally was 42 to 27 on the boards, with 17 offensive rebounds for the Cardinal. Not coincidentally, GU was outscored 38-20 in the paint.
The most telling halftime stat: no GU player had more than two rebounds.
It didn’t help that starting forward Zykera Rice picked up her second foul just three minutes into the game and played just seven minutes in the first half.
“I tried to keep my head in the game,” Rice said.
The Zags needed the rest of her. With Rice sidelined, leading scorer Jill Barta found the going tougher at both ends of the court.
Barta worked hard for every one of her game-high 21 points, as double-teams greeted her at the top of the key. That led to open looks for the GU guards, but they hit just five of 17 outside shots.
Stanford’s aggressive perimeter defense had something to do with that.
“One of the things in the film, when you watch Stanford play, they get a high hand every time,” Fortier said. “And so I think, I don’t know that we were tentative, I don’t think we had open threes, really.”
Stanford (23-10) had far too many at the other end. Coming into the game with a 31 percent average from beyond the arc, the Cardinal made six of 11 in the first half and 11 of 22 for the game.
In particular, guard Kiara Williams hurt the Zags by going 5-for-8 from long range, tying Barta for game-high scoring honors with 21 points.
Gonzaga got a big spark in the second quarter from backup point guard Jessie Loera, who scored 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting to keep GU in the game.
Trailing 47-36 at halftime, the Zags clawed back to within eight after two free throws from Barta.
Stanford answered emphatically with a decisive push late in the third that included three 3-pointers and an offensive foul on Barta after she drove into several Stanford defenders at the free-throw line.
“In that just stretch of time, I think it was just about trusting your teammates; trusting that your teammate is going to hit an open shot,” said Stanford forward Alanna Smith.
Laura Stockton had 14 points for GU, along with four assists. Barta’s four rebounds were a team high.
Guard Brittany McPhee, a third-team All-American, had just 11 points, but showed her versatility with a game-high 11 boards. She also drove the lane relentlessly, forcing GU to collapse and leave shooters open.
