Basketball Preview: #2 Ohio State vs. #6 Cincinnati

Craft stepped up big against Gonzaga

There are 347 schools playing Division I men's basketball. Thirteen are from Ohio. Four of those are among the 16 teams still playing in the NCAA tournament.

Only one calls itself The Ohio State University.

The flagship school from the leading basketball state in the nation -- in this tournament, at least -- will play Cincinnati on Thursday night in an East Regional semifinal that is as much a Battle of the Buckeye State as it is a chance to move one game closer to a national title.

"What I've felt all along is it's just a tremendous state for basketball," said Ohio State coach Thad Matta, who also coached at Miami of Ohio and Xavier before taking over the Buckeyes in 2004.

"I think a lot of times in the high school ranks it gets tabbed as a football state, just all the great players that they've put out. But just in the time that I've been there ... I've got a pretty good understanding of how passionate the fans are. It takes a lot of luck for four teams to get here, obviously. I think it speaks volumes to the level of basketball in the state."

Although it is bordered by hoops hotbeds Kentucky (a state with nine NCAA titles) and Indiana (five), Ohio hasn't really been considered a basketball state since placing a team in four straight championship games from 1960-63. (Ohio State won the first, then lost the next two to Cincinnati; the Bearcats returned in `63 and lost to Loyola of Chicago.)

Ohio State has won two football championships since then, but its appearance in the basketball title game in 2007 is the only one for the state since the `60s. Even -- gasp! -- Michigan, with three men's basketball championship since then, has more to show from its trips to the NCAA tournament.

"Ohio, everybody knows them as a football state. But we have a little bit of basketball talent inside those borders," said Buckeyes forward Jared Sullinger, a Columbus native who is one of three Ohioans among the top four scorers on the team. "It's just finally showing now."

And not just at Ohio State.

Team Effort Powers Buckeyes Past Gonzaga On Way To Sweet Sixteen

Thomas added 18 for the Buckeyes

Ohio State busted the original bracket buster.

Jared Sullinger scored 18 points, including two big baskets in the final 3 minutes to lead the Buckeyes past Gonzaga 73-66 on Saturday and into the round of 16 for the third straight year.

Deshaun Thomas also scored 18 for the second-seeded Buckeyes (29-7), while Aaron Craft added 17 points and 10 assists. Ohio State will play Florida State or Cincinnati in the East Regional semifinals in Boston on Thursday.

Gary Bell Jr. led No. 7 seed Gonzaga (26-7) with 18 points. The Bulldogs erased a 10-point deficit to tie it at 61 on a 3-pointer by Elias Harris with 4:05 remaining, but Sullinger knocked down two pretty hook shots late while the Zags went cold.

The steady play of Craft and some gritty defense in the final minutes helped Ohio State avoid becoming the third No. 2 seed to lose in less than 24 hours. Fellow heavyweights Duke and Missouri fell to upstarts on Friday from one-bid leagues.

Yet the Buckeyes knew the Bulldogs hardly are scrappy underdogs. They entered the game with 17 NCAA victories over the last 14 seasons, the same as the Buckeyes.

The 18th will have to wait until next year at least, though Gonzaga again showed the mettle that's made it perhaps the most successful mid-major program in the country.

The Bulldogs appeared to be out of it after a putback by Thomas gave the Buckeyes a 58-48 lead. Gonzaga responded with a 13-3 run capped by a 3-pointer from the corner by Harris.

Then Sullinger, who still thinks about last year's loss to Kentucky in the regional semifinals, took over. He backed down Gonzaga center Robert Sacre and hit a soft little hook shot from the right block to put Ohio State back in front.