Oregon avenges Rose Bowl on the hardwood, knocks off Ohio State 73-71

The Buckeyes led for most of the game, but the Ducks pulled out the win in the final two minutes.

Three days after sweating out a double-overtime “thriller” in Minneapolis Monday night, the Ohio State men’s basketball team (10-6, 2-3) was back home at the Schott to take on No. 15 Oregon (14-2, 3-2).

Thursday’s matchup with one of the conference’s newest programs would’ve been a whole lot more crucial had the Buckeyes not pulled a rabbit out of their hat Monday night. Still, 3-2 looks better than 2-3, especially with road trips to Wisconsin and Purdue coming up in the next week and a half.

However, Oregon won the first battle between the programs in over 30 years Thursday night, riding a 24-point performance from Jackson Shelstad to a 73-71 win in the final minute of the game.

For the first time in recent memory, the Buckeyes came into this game fully healthy. Meechie Johnson remained away from the team, but all others were healthy and available.

Ohio State got baskets from Thornton, Mobley, Parrish, and Stewart in the first few minutes to jump ahead 10-5, but a pair of free throws from Bamba paired with a steal and score by Shelstad made it 10-9 at the first media timeout. Not too much defense was happening during the early stages of this game.

A scoreless period of more than four minutes allowed Oregon to go on a 7-0 run and take a two-point lead, but four straight points by Stewart put Ohio State back up, 18-16, with just over nine minutes remaining in the half. By the under-eight media timeout, the Buckeyes were still hanging on to a 20-18 lead with 7:43 to go until halftime.

Ohio State took a five-point lead into the halftime locker room, 32-27. They were carried by sophomore forward Sean Stewart, who set his season-high in scoring with 12 points in the first half alone. On top of that, he went 6-for-8 at the free throw line after coming into the game having gone 11-for-22 at the line on the season.

Shelstad outscored his season average as well, scoring 12 points in the first half after coming into the game averaging 11.5 per contest.

Oregon quickly cut the Ohio State lead to 34-32 when the second half began, but Mobley’s first three-pointer of the game was followed by consecutive baskets from Thornton to give Ohio State its biggest lead of the day, 41-32, with 16:38 remaining in the game.

A Tracey turnover with 11:23 remaining was scooped up by Parrish, who found Mobley on a nearly full-court pass to the other end. Mobley went up to shoot the three but was fouled on the closeout by Bittle. Mobley knocked down all three free throws to make it 52-44 Ohio State, but 40 seconds later Bamba scored through traffic to cut it back to 52-46.

After Angel went on a 5-0 run of his own to cut the Ohio State lead to three points, Thornton hit a huge step-back jumper over Bamba to put the Buckeyes back up, 57-51, with 7:19 remaining in the game.

Bittle’s third three-pointer of the game cut the Ohio State lead to 61-59 with 5:22 remaining, and Shelstad’s fourth three-pointer gave Oregon the lead with 1:33 left in the game. Ohio State retook the lead with seven seconds left, but a foul on Oregon’s final possession put them at the line, and Shelstad won it with two free throws.

If you weren’t on hand Thursday night to see Ohio State drop its second consecutive home game to a ranked team, here are a few key moments and plays that turned out to be pretty important as the Ducks got revenge for the Rose Bowl:

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Starting lineups

Diebler went with a starting five of Bruce Thornton, John Mobley Jr., Micah Parrish, Devin Royal, and Sean Stewart to start the game.

It’s year 15 in Eugene for Dana Altman, and he went with a starting five of Jackson Shelstad, TJ Bamba, Jadrian Tracey, Brandon Angel, and Nate Bittle.

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Ohio State forces a shot clock violation to start the game

The Buckeyes forced a shot clock violation on Oregon’s first offensive possession of the game, getting the bench and coaching staff on its feet. Stewart stuck a hand out and poked a pass away that was intended for Bittle, which led to a scramble in the backcourt. The ball first rolled towards the scorer’s table before Mobley pushed it farther down court from the floor. The shot clock eventually went off with the ball rolling at the other end of the floor.

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Buckeyes go scoreless for over four minutes, Oregon goes up 12-10

After jumping out to a 10-5 lead, Ohio State went scoreless for the next 4:22, missing all five shots they took in that time. Meanwhile, Oregon went on a 7-0 run, taking a 12-10 lead with 14:55 left in the first half.

After nearly five minutes of no buckets, Thornton found Evan Mahaffey cutting up the baseline towards him for an open dunk, tying the game 12-12 with just over 14 minutes left in the half.

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Stewart scores four points in 33 seconds, Buckeyes back ahead by two

Stewart’s first half on Thursday was the best half of basketball he’s played this season, scoring 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting. He was 5-for-6 at the free throw line in the opening frame as well, after coming into the game as a 50% free throw shooter.

With Ohio State trailing 16-14, Stewart was fouled at the rack by Bamba and knocked down both free throws to tie it at 16. On the next Ohio State possession, Royal found a cutting Stewart for a dunk to put the Buckeyes up 18-16 with 9:38 remaining in the first half.

Stewart finished the game with 14 points, nine rebounds, two steals, and one block in 23 minutes.

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Mobley finally sees one go down

Freshman guard John Mobley Jr. was only 5-for-23 from three-point range over the last four games, and missed his first four attempts on Thursday night, too.

But 2:05 into the second half, Thornton dribbled into the key, pivoted, and found Mobley on the wing, about 10 feet from Diebler on the sideline. Mobley buried that one to make it 37-32 Ohio State.

Mobley finished with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting, but was 1-for-5 from three-point range, making him 6 for his last 28 over the last five games. He was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line, but also committed a team-high five turnovers in 25 minutes.

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Late whistle prevents Ohio State fast break

With 13:23 remaining in the game and Ohio State up 49-41, Royal reached in and poked the ball away from Tracey near the Oregon free-throw line, and Ques Glover grabbed the ball. The transfer guard had already turned around and had taken a dribble up court with nobody in front of him, on his way for an open basket.

However, as just as he went toward half-court the whistle blasted, and a late foul was called on Royal. Bittle would go on to nail a three-pointer on the possession, making it 49-44 instead of (possibly) 51-41.

Bittle was phenomenal for the Ducks, finishing with 21 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks in 30 minutes. He knocked down four three-pointers, which was the most he had ever hit in one game in his career.

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Sheldstad’s fourth three of the game gives Oregon the lead

Trailing 67-65 with 1:35 left, Oregon had only led this game for three minutes early in the first half. But Shelstad’s fourth three of the game put the Ducks up 68-67. On the next possession, Bamba scored on a driving layup to make the lead 70-67 with 40 seconds left in the game.

Shelstad tied his season-high with 24 points, and was 4-for-6 from three-point range over 36 minutes.

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Mobley gives Ohio State the lead at the line, but Shelstad answers

After Mahaffey got the score back to 70-69 with a layup, Shelstad was trapped in the corner on the inbounds, and turned the ball over. Thornton found Mobley, who drove to the basket and was fouled by Bittle. Mobley hit both free throws, putting the Buckeyes up, 71-70, with 12 seconds remaining.

On Oregon’s final offensive possession, Shelstad was fouled by Glover driving to the basket. He hit both free throws with seven seconds left, putting the Ducks back ahead by a point, 72-71. Ohio State would not score again.

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What’s next?

Ohio State (10-6, 2-3) begins a tough three-game stretch, starting with a road game at Wisconsin (12-3, 2-2) on Tuesday night. The Badgers started the season 8-0 and got as high as No. 11 in the AP Poll before going on a three-game losing streak. They’ve won four in a row since then, including scoring 116 points against Iowa on Friday.

The Badgers are currently No. 21 in KenPom and No. 24 in the NET rankings. Ohio State’s game against Wisconsin will tip off at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday and will be broadcast on Peacock.