Team gives OSU 2nd chance at national title in '07
The Buckeyes played one of their best games of the season Saturday.
SAN ANTONIO -- Like their football counterparts, the Ohio State men's basketball team is on the threshold of a national championship.
On Saturday the Buckeyes pulled away from Memphis, winning the South Regional of the NCAA tournament, 92-76, and advancing to the Final Four for the first time since 1999.
Next Saturday night in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, the Buckeyes (34-3) will play the winner of today's East Regional championship game between North Carolina and Georgetown. The winner then will advance to the finals.
Like the 2002 national championship football team, these Buckeyes have survived some close games in the NCAA tournament. Ohio State trailed Xavier by 11 points in the second half of their second-round game before Ron Lewis' 3-pointer with two seconds remaining sent the game into overtime. From there the Buckeyes dominated, winning 78-71.
Then, on Thursday night in the regional semifinal game against Tennessee, Ohio State fell behind by 20 points, 49-29, late in the first half, but again came storming back, caught the Volunteers, and won, 85-84, on a free throw by freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr.
On Saturday, the Buckeyes played perhaps their best game of the season, defeating a Memphis squad that had won 25 straight games and was playing in the regional finals for the second consecutive year.