No. 10 Ohio State defeats No. 7 VCU in overtime

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10 years ago

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard D’Angelo Russell (0) dribbles against Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard/forward Treveon Graham (21) during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Shannon Scott (3) passes the basketball against Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard/forward Treveon Graham (21) during the second half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard/forward Treveon Graham (21) shoots the basketball against Ohio State Buckeyes forward Sam Thompson (12) during the second half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Virginia Commonwealth Rams forward Mo Alie-Cox (12) reacts against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard D’Angelo Russell (0) shoots flagrant 1 foul shots against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams during the second half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Keita Bates-Diop (33) and Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard/forward Treveon Graham (21) fight for a rebound during the second half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Doug Brooks (5) commits a flagrant 1 foul against Ohio State Buckeyes guard D’Angelo Russell (0) during the second half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Melvin Johnson (32) shoots the basketball against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Shannon Scott (3) dribbles against Virginia Commonwealth Rams forward Jarred Guest (23) during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard D’Angelo Russell (0) dribbles against Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Doug Brooks (5) during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Jonathan Williams (10) shoots the basketball against Ohio State Buckeyes forward Jae’Sean Tate (1) during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Melvin Johnson (32) dribbles against Ohio State Buckeyes forward Jae’Sean Tate (1) during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard JeQuan Lewis (1) dribbles the basketball against Ohio State Buckeyes guard D’Angelo Russell (0) during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard JeQuan Lewis (1) dribbles against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Shannon Scott (3) dribbles against Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard JeQuan Lewis (1) during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Mar 19, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Shannon Scott (3) dribbles against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Ohio State 75, VCU 72 (OT): DeAngelo Russell had 28 points and made four 3-pointers and Keita Bates-Diop hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:34 left in overtime as the 10th-seeded Buckeyes edged the seventh-seeded Rams in NCAA Tournament round of 64 play in Portland, Ore.

Amir Williams added 13 points, Jae’Sean Tate contributed 12 points and eight rebounds and Shannon Scott recorded 10 assists for Ohio State (24-10), which faces second-seeded Arizona on Saturday. Diop’s 3-pointer and Scott’s layup helped the Buckeyes grab a 73-70 lead and VCU’s Treveon Graham missed a tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left before Russell made two three throws to make it a two-possession game with 4.9 seconds remaining.

Melvin Johnson scored 17 points and Doug Brooks added 14 for the Rams (26-10), who led by as many as 12 in the first half before Ohio State rallied. JeQuan Lewis had 11 points and Graham had 10 points and 10 rebounds but was 3-of-12 shooting as VCU shot 38.1 percent from the field.

The Buckeyes led by six with less than 15 minutes left when Brooks made three 3-pointers to start a 13-2 run as VCU took a 52-47 lead just past the midway point. Ohio State rallied to lead by four before Johnson made back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Rams ahead and Williams responded by slamming home a dunk with 1:16 left to tie it at 66 and the game went into overtime.

VCU rattled off nine straight points in the first half to take a 25-13 lead with 6:33 remaining before Ohio State closed on a 16-5 spurt to cut the Rams’ lead to 30-29 at the break. Russell made two 3-pointers in the early stages of the second half as the Buckeyes took a 45-39 lead with 15:11 to play prior to VCU’s surge.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ohio State was hit with an administrative technical foul for listing the number of backup C Trey McDonald wrong in the official scorebook. … Brooks was called for a flagrant 1 foul for elbowing Russell while driving for a basket with 4:56 remaining and Russell’s bloody eye area was cleaned up during the delay and he returned to split the pair of free throws to give the Buckeyes a 59-58 lead. … The 20-point outing is Russell’s 16th of the season.