Friday has featured two 15-seeds pulling off upsets, and that will take away a little of the national appeal of 13-seed Ohio’s 65-60 win over 4-seed Michigan in a Midwest Region battle.
But to be fair other than the seeds this didn’t have the look of a “major” upset. Point guard D.J. Cooper ran the show, finishing with a game-high 21 points to go along with five assists in a very good performance.
Three other Bobcats finished in double figures as they shot 51% from the field, limiting the Wolverines to 41% shooting on the night. Trey Burke led the Wolverines with 16 points and five assists, and Evan Smotrycz added 15 off the bench.
But Smotrycz lost control of his dribble with Michigan trailing 63-60, leading to a pair of Walter Offutt free throws that sealed the game. While the result may be a surprise to those who simply see the seeds, this came as no surprise to either the Bobcats or the Mid-American Conference.
Two years ago Cooper put forth a virtuoso performance to lead Ohio to an emphatic win over then 3-seed Georgetown, making this the second time in the last three seasons that the Bobcats have not only reached the Dance but won a game.
MAC teams have posted a 2-6 record in their last eight NCAA games, and both wins belong to Ohio. Next up for John Groce’s team will be either Temple or USF, who meet in the final game of the night in Nashville.
Ohio took care of the basketball (nine turnovers) and did a good job of finding quality shots, and if they can duplicate that on Sunday there’s no reason why they can’t pick up another victory.
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- kfrazee - Mar 16, 2012 at 10:33 PM
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Guess michigan knows the difference between Ohio and Ohio State now! Then again they played both schools their last two games with the same result. It might still be confusing.
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- dkhhuey - Mar 17, 2012 at 12:11 AM
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Yep – I’m guessing Flounder Hoke knows that it really doesn’t matter when he tries to insult OSU by calling it Ohio – since both teams can now kick his ass!!! Then again, its hard to think when you’ve got a triple stuffed meat crust meat lover’s pizza sitting in front of you
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- sinister23 - Mar 17, 2012 at 1:35 AM
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Wow….u 2 are dumb….u realize your posting about college basketball….talking about football. Ohioans are ignorant….now go.trade your memorabilia for some cool “bucks” tatts
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- jdesan - Mar 17, 2012 at 5:37 AM
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Nothing can be finer than to see a Michigan whiner! Michigan wouldn’t even have been in the Tournament without Ohio players. see Trey Burke.
You suck and will continue to suck………
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- kfrazee - Mar 17, 2012 at 6:50 AM
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Hey Sinister, read my post again, I didn’t say anything about your shizzy football team. You scUM fans think your being smart by referring to tOSU as Ohio, even during bball season. Guess the Bobcats took care of that. Then again I can see why upset. You were probably hoping for some payback for the beat down the Buckeyes gave scUM in the big ten tourney. Now go have your mom fix you a pop tart for breakfast.
