Top-seeded Ohio State routs George Mason 98-66
Published 4:38 pm Sunday, March 20, 2011
CLEVELAND — Perhaps it was Ohio State’s uncanny accuracy from deep that resulted in 16 three-point baskets, including a perfect 7 for 7 from David Lighty.
Or maybe it was freshman Aaron Craft’s marvelous passing throughout the game in amassing 15 assists — one a 50-foot dart from the sideline near half-court for Jared Sullinger’s layup, or the toss from his backside that resulted in a Jon Diebler four-point play.
Whatever the most impressive part of their game they exhibited Sunday, the Buckeyes, after a shaky start, put the rest of the Sweet 16 on notice that they’re a solid threat to win it all by dismantling George Mason, 98-66, in a third-round game of the NCAA East Regional at Quicken Loans Arena.
The top-seeded Buckeyes (34-2) advanced to the regional semifinals in Newark, N.J., and a meeting with No. 4 seed Kentucky on Friday night.
The Buckeyes shot 61.0 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from three-point land. After doling out 26 assists on 29 field goals in Friday’s first-round win over Texas-San Antonio, they slacked off to 23 assists (against nine turnovers, two by Craft) on 36 baskets.
“They have outstanding skilled players who really know how to distribute the ball and share the ball,” Patriots coach Jim Larranaga said. “With Sullinger inside and that many weapons outside, it seemed like everything we tried to do defensively, they had an answer for.”
It was a memorable day for Lighty, a fifth-year senior playing in his hometown of family and friends. Along with three teammates, he received his degree in a special graduation ceremony at midcourt during morning shootaround, then scored 25 points that evening to lead all scorers.
William Buford added 18 points for Ohio State. Sullinger went for 18 points and eight rebounds, although he sat out the final 12 minutes, 20 seconds.
George Mason (27-7), which qualified for Sunday after its 61-57 victory over Villanova, played without Friday’s hero, playmaker Luke Hancock, who hit the game-winning three-pointer against the Wildcats. Hancock got sick overnight and was sent back to the hotel after he and his teammates arrived at the arena.
Without Hancock, the Patriots actually came out primed to pull off an upset. They raced out to an 11-2 lead in the opening 3:38 and had forced three turnovers from Sullinger, who started woofing at the Patriots’ Ryan Pearson after the third, prompting the referee to have a chat with the freshman.
“It was just the heat of the battle,” Sullinger said.
The Buckeyes took a deep breath and outscored Mason by 50-15 in the remainder of the period. After closing to 24-20 on Johnny Williams’ basket with 10:09 left, the Patriots didn’t score another basket until 21 seconds before halftime. They made 1 of their last 11 shots, compared to 10 of 16 for the Buckeyes.
It was 52-26 at halftime thanks in part to Lighty’s five threes.
“Everybody was clicking on all cylinders tonight,” Lighty said. “When that happens, I think it’s hard to beat us. You can’t key on one person.”
“We snapped out of it early and started defending,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “Offensively we were making shots and moving the ball. I thought we had a great pace to what we were trying to do.”
That’s two wins by a grand total of 61 points in two games. The rest of the regional is tough, but the opponents had better be ready.
