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Ohio State’s win over Loyola Chicago was torturous to watch for anyone who wasn’t a Buckeyes fan.
The No. 7 Buckeyes beat the No. 10 Ramblers, 54-41, in their first-round South region game on Friday. While Ohio State shot 42% from the field, the Buckeyes were just 1-of-15 from 3-point range. You don’t often see teams shoot 7% from three in a win, let alone a relatively comfortable win like this one was. It’s safe to say this was the ugliest game of the 2022 men’s NCAA tournament so far.
That’s because Loyola was absolutely inept at shooting the ball itself. The Ramblers had no semblance of offense throughout the entire game and missed numerous close shots at the basket. It was a brutal day for Loyola as it was 15-of-56 from the field. The Ramblers were 8-of-28 from three and actually shot worse (7-of-28) from inside the arc.
And somehow Loyola was just as bad from the free-throw line. The Ramblers shot just 3-of-8 from the stripe as leading scorer Lucas Williamson was 1-of-6. Williamson embodied Loyola’s shooting struggles as he made just two shots total — one free throw and one field goal.
Ohio State played some pretty good defense — and Loyola did too. But the win had a lot to do with Loyola’s cold shooting. The Ramblers entered as one of the best shooting teams in the tournament and shot 38% from behind the arc as a team. But as Williamson went 1-of-10 from the field and Marquise Kennedy was 1-of-8, there was no way that Loyola could keep up with an Ohio State team that couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean if it was 25 feet away.
The Buckeyes’ win means there are just eight perfect brackets remaining in Yahoo Tourney Pick’Em through the first 17 games of the NCAA tournament. Ohio State will advance to play the winner of No. 2 Villanova and No. 15 Delaware on Sunday.
