Despite valiant comeback, Ohio State falls short in NIT quarterfinals against Georgia

COLUMBUS — Zed Key raised the roof. Jamison Battle answered the bell. Dale Bonner gave Ohio State a chance.

Those veterans fueled what could have been season-saving runs for the Buckeyes as well as a 13-point, second-half comeback against Georgia in a roaring Schottenstein Center Tuesday night.

The second of those two runs went to the tune of a 17-0 Buckeyes surge, which saw them hold the Bulldogs scoreless for more than five minutes.

Ohio State’s relentless push was bookended with Battle 3-pointers. It also included a Bonner triple from the right wing, plus a rare dunk from the 6-foot-2 grad transfer guard that saw him swing around the cup before dismounting.

That stretch countered a 9-0 Georgia punch. Before that, Key sparked an 8-0 Buckeyes flurry that answered a 15-4 Georgia run to start the second half. Key got the crowd going with an and-one and then threw down a dunk in transition.

Ohio State ultimately took a six-point lead with 4:50 to go, but one more swing from Georgia proved too much for the Buckeyes to overcome. Potential game-winning 3-pointers from Bruce Thornton and then Jamison Battle both didn’t connect and Ohio State fell, 79-77.

Georgia advanced to the NIT semifinals in Indianapolis. The Buckeyes, on the other hand, saw their resurgent final month and a half of the season come to an end.

Felix Okpara continues to flash offensive development in dunk-themed first half

Before the NIT, Ohio State center Felix Okpara had never strung together back-to-back, double-digit scoring efforts. By the end of the first half Tuesday, the 6-foot-11 sophomore had three straight 10-plus-point games locked up. After a 16-and-7 stat line against Cornell and a 13-and-6 outing against Virginia Tech, Okpara delivered 10-and-4 in the opening frame versus Georgia.

Okpara was 5-of-7 from the field in the first 20 minutes of action, and all five of his field goals came on dunks, including four alley-oops. The first two were served up by Thornton, the next came from Roddy Gayle Jr., and then Battle fed the second-year big man.

The Lagos, Nigeria, native accounted for all but one of the Buckeyes’ first-half dunks. Gayle slammed home the other, flushing a Thornton feed prior to intermission.

After Tuesday’s performance, Okpara has finished in double figures nine times this season. He clocked out with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Ohio State bounces back from another slow NIT start

Ohio State went down, 19-9, against Cornell. Then the Buckeyes found themselves in 7-0 and 12-6 holes against Virginia Tech. Head coach Jake Diebler’s team got behind early versus Georgia, too.

The Buckeyes trailed, 15-8, more than seven minutes into the quarterfinal matchup. Bulldogs freshman guard Blue Cain knocked down a 3-pointer and then converted an old-fashioned 3-point play. Sharpshooting guard Noah Thomasson followed up that and-one with a long-range bucket.

As has often been the case down the stretch of the season, Ohio State’s freshmen came through in a must-have moment. An and-one from Buckeyes first-year forward Devin Royal halted a 10-2 Georgia run.

Then, after a pair of Gayle free throws, freshman guard Taison Chatman pump faked, dribbled inside the arc and drilled a mid-range jumper that tied the game at 15-15. Although Chatman committed two turnovers in his three minutes, his lone make on his lone attempt was key.

From that point forward, it was back and forth the rest of the first half.

Georgia came into the game with seven players averaging at least seven points per game, and that balanced scoring attack showed in the opening period, with six Bulldogs players recording at least two field goals. Three of them rounded out the contest with 10 or more points: Thomasson (21), Cain (17), and Frank Anselem-Ibe, who came into the night averaging 2.1 points but scored 10 points in addition to his 10 rebounds.

Jamison Battle reaches 2,000-point milestone in final game of college career

Battle couldn’t sink his final Buckeyes 3-point attempt, but he finished the night with four makes from beyond the arc, and he finished the year with 91 triples.

He also reached the 2,000-point milestone in his Ohio State career, en route to a 22-point performance against Georgia. Battle closed his five-year, three-stop college career with four 20-plus-point games in his last five outings.

He also emerged as a significant locker room leader throughout the second half of the season. After spending two years at George Washington and two more close to home at Minnesota, Battle made the move to Ohio State for his graduate year. Although he didn’t make the NCAA Tournament like he hoped when he decided to join the Buckeyes, he still had a prolific final season, shooting a career-high 43.3% from downtown.

While Battle led Ohio State Tuesday with 22 points — not to mention eight rebounds — Thornton (13 points), Okpara (12) and Gayle (11) also scored in double figures.