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Live Score
Ohio State 29-37-9–75
VCU 30-36-6–72
The No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes upset the Atlantic-10 Champion, No. 7 seed VCU Rams in a Round of 64 game in the West Region. The Buckeyes move on to play Arizona in a Round of 32 game on Saturday.
Ohio State guard D’Angelo Russell — who has drawn comparisons to Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook for his athleticism, play-making ability and propensity to score, finished as the game’s leading scorer with 28 points on 5-for-10 shooting. Russell is a slam-dunk lock to be a top-three pick in June’s NBA Draft barring injury or some other unforeseen circumstance.
Click here for a full box score and recap of the game.
VCU Shot Terribly but Still Entered Halftime With a Lead
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Ohio State struggled mightily to match VCU’s shooting performance in the 1st half (half sarcasm). The Rams entered halftime with a slim 30-29, one-point lead over the Buckeyes.
NBA prospect and likely top-five pick in June’s NBA Draft, D’Angelo Russell, had a sensational 1st-half performance finishing 5-for-10 from the floor with 12 points, and was quintessential in helping the Buckeyes crawl back into the game after being down by as much as 11.
The Rams shot just 29.4% from the floor, but still scored 30 points — a testament to their guards’ ability to score.
The Game Got chippy Late in the 2nd Half & Into OT
with 4:56 remaining in the 2nd half, Russell took a cheap elbow from VCU’s Doug Brooks as Brooks was driving to the hoop for a layup. A fragrant foul was eventually called and Russell hit one of twoo free throws.
Two minutes into overtime, VCU’s Treveon Graham and Ohio State’s Jae’Sean Tate took fouls on the above play. Tate, who drew his 5th foul, had fouled out of the game.
