toledoblade.com --

COLUMBUS - Fewer than 15 hours after Ohio State University achieved one of the biggest victories in college football history by upsetting the heavily favored Miami Hurricanes, the Buckeye basketball team appeared ready to duplicate the defensive effort that earned the school a national championship.

But coach Rick Pitino's 24th-ranked Louisville Cardinals broke free from OSU's first-half clutches and their own miserable shooting to overcome a 17-point first-half deficit and take a 72-64 overtime win yesterday at Value City Arena.

Ohio State guard Brent Darby, who led all scorers with 24 points in the game, hit two free throws with 6.5 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime tied at 57.

Louisville's second-half momentum, however, continued in the extra period. The Cardinals grabbed a 64-59 edge on sub Luke Whitehead's layup with 1:50 remaining, then iced the game with 8-for-10 free-throw shooting down the stretch in OT.

"They were totally outplaying us in the first half," Pitino said. "They were executing defensively like their football team did Friday night, in terms of taking away what we tried to do.

"Congratulations to the Ohio State football team because that was as brilliant a performance as I've seen."

What proved costly to Ohio State (7-4) after halftime was poor offensive execution and a failure to finish on several point-blank scoring chances inside, plus Louisville's upgraded emphasis on pressure defense and better perimeter shooting.

The Cards forced OSU into 13 turnovers and 6-of-21 shooting after halftime, while hitting seven of 15 attempts from 3-point range themselves after a 2-for-10 effort from beyond the arc before the break.

Louisville's aggressive play enabled it to offset a 45-34 Buckeye rebounding edge, and OSU's 28-of-40 effort from the foul line.

"We had more than enough opportunities to make some baskets [inside] and give ourselves a chance to win," OSU coach Jim O'Brien said. "We just didn't make enough plays. We had a chance to win this game and we didn't take advantage of it."

The Cardinals (8-1), who were coming off an impressive 81-63 thumping of in-state rival Kentucky seven days earlier, shot just 23 percent from the field (6 for 26) before halftime, and trailed 32-18. This from a team averaging 88.5 points per game.

"We're excited about winning this game because we didn't play well, except that we showed tremendous heart and character," Pitino said.

Louisville guards Reece Gaines (starter, 18.4 average) and Bryant Northern (sub, 5.0), each scoreless in the opening 20 minutes, came alive from the perimeter to score 14 and 18 points after halftime, respectively, leading the comeback effort.

"They just wear you down," Buckeye coach Jim O'Brien said of Louisville's defensive pressure. "They have the ability to play so many guys that it just takes its toll."

Louisville had a startling 41-3 edge over Ohio State in points from nonstarters.

In the opening half, the Cards were stonewalled, either by OSU or by their own doing.

Louisville forward Ellis Myles scored the game's first basket 40 seconds into the game, then the Cardinals went scoreless for 6:50 before Myles hit a free throw to cut OSU's lead to 11-3. They were without a field goal for 9:34 until Myles' foul-line jumper made it 13-5.

"In the first half we did a good job of controlling the tempo, which is what we needed to do," O'Brien said. "They helped us because they missed a bunch of shots.

"In the second half, when things started to pick up, we lacked enough discipline to continue to run the offense. The game started to get a little too fast and that certainly was to their advantage."

The Buckeyes got 13 points apiece from center Velimir Radinovic and guard Sean Connolly, and 11 from forward Zach Williams. Radinovic also grabbed nine rebounds.

Permanent Link