Buckeyes lose heartbreaker to Pittsburgh in final seconds

COLUMBUS — For the second straight season, Ohio State had its heart broken by Pittsburgh.

Last season’s loss to Pittsburgh featured a buzzer-beating heartbreaker for Ohio State in the Schottenstein Center. The Buckeyes thought they had flipped the script on the Panthers in the return trip a year later. A tip-in by A’mari Bynum with 3.7 seconds remaining gave Ohio State the lead.

But Pitt took a few dribbles and heaved a near-half court prayer that found the bottom of the net. Two meetings, two heartbreaks. This time it was a a 67-66 rock-fight defeat against Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center.

Devin Royal led the Buckeyes with 22 points.

Ohio State shot just 29.2 percent from beyond the 3-point line in the loss despite getting 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds from superstar guard Bruce Thornton Jr.

John Mobley Jr. did not play in the second half due to injury; he was in a walking boot on the bench during the second half of action.

Ohio State will have a pair of Big Ten matchups upcoming at Northwestern on Dec. 6 and against Illinois at home on Dec. 9 before a pair of marquee nonconference matchups against West Virginia on Dec. 13 and North Carolina on Dec. 20. Both of those two nonconference games are at neutral sites.

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