Thomas, Buckeyes Blow Past Greyhounds On Way To Round Of 32

Thomas came up big against the Greyhounds

Ohio State used its size advantage to handle Loyola, Md., dominating the Greyhounds the way a No. 2 seed is expected to handle a 15 seed.

The Buckeyes made sure there wouldn't be a second scare at the Consol Energy Center.

Deshaun Thomas scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds -- one off his career best -- to lead Ohio State to a 78-59 victory Thursday night in the second round of the East Regional.

That was far different from top-seeded Syracuse's 72-65 victory over North Carolina-Asheville, a game that had many thinking it could be the first time a No. 16 seed beat a No. 1.

"Obviously this tournament is about advancing, and that's what we did tonight," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "I don't think we played at the level we need to. Our guys know that. Give Loyola a ton of credit for that. They came at us."

William Buford had 17 points and Jared Sullinger added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Buckeyes (28-7), who dominated the smaller Greyhounds inside, finishing with a 49-24 rebound advantage.

"Deshaun was excellent on the boards and also scoring the basketball," Sullinger said. "He pretty much carried this team. I don't think we would have won it without him."

Ohio State will play seventh-seeded Gonzaga in the third round Saturday. The Bulldogs beat 10th-seeded West Virginia 77-54.

Basketball Preview: #2 Ohio State vs. #15 Loyola (MD)

Sullinger is ready to go

Ohio State has four sophomore starters and one bad NCAA tournament memory.

The Buckeyes were knocked out of last year's tournament in the regional semifinals by a jumper by Kentucky's Brandon Knight with 5 seconds to play. A No. 1 seed last year, the Buckeyes felt their season ended way too soon.

A No. 2 seed this year, Ohio State starts a run at a 10th Final Four when it plays 15th-seeded Loyola (Md.) on Thursday night in the second round of the East Regional.

The Buckeyes (27-7) were a tri-champion of the Big Ten this season. Loyola (24-8) finished second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and won the conference tournament to seal its second NCAA tournament berth, 22 behind the Buckeyes.

Ohio State's Jared Sullinger was a first-team All-America last season as a freshman. He averaged 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds this season while earning All-Big Ten honors.

Sullinger sounded like someone who believes that when he talks about Loyola, which had the first 20-win season in school history in 2011-12.

Recap: Ohio State vs. UCSB March Madness Tournament

 If you were expecting a huge performance by Evan Turner, to maybe seal up the Player of the Year trophy, you would have been wrong, along with just about everyone else in the College Basketball world. The Gauchos came out with a plan, and that was to stop and shut down Evan Turner. It worked, but it also back fired, because Ohio State's Jon Diebler, William Buford, and David Lighty, with a little bit of Lauderdale sprinkled in, totally dominated the Santa Barbara squad. With this performance, the Buckeyes were totally fine without their star on the court. Evan Turner was frustrated, there's no doubt about that. He was happy with the win, but he only finished with nine points on 2-of-13 shooting from the field. He did have 10 rebounds, though, that helped his teammates out in the long run.

Despite being called out sick with the flu, Diebler had the most impressive performance thus far this year, adding 23 points. He was so hot from the three area, that the Buckeyes went straight to him for three straight shots, all resulting in a total of a 9 point stretch. Speaking of domination, Dallas Lauderdale came out to prove he was still the go-to big man for the Buckeyes, and he had eight rebounds and 12 blocks, becoming the third player since 1997 to reach those levels in a tournament game (Cole Aldrich 2009, Kelvin Cato in 1997). Along with that, William Buford became hot in certain times in the game, which ended with 16 points. In all, if the Buckeyes continue to play like this throughout the tournament, with the addition of good play by Turner, (don't worry, he will) Then they are a legitimate title contender. Of course, it was UCSB, but we will really get to see how good these Buckeyes are when they face Georgia Tech on Sunday at 2:20 PM EST.

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  The Buckeyes jumped out to a 17-point halftime lead and cruised to a 17-point win, despite Evan Turner going 2 for 14 from the floor. Turner finished with nine points.

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   Jon Diebler tied a season-high with seven 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 23 points.

Evan Turner, happy with his first ever NCAA win.