PORTLAND β Gabe York hit five three-pointers and T.J. McConnell stuffed the box score to help the Arizona Wildcats take care of Ohio State and its zone defense with a 73-58 win in their second NCAA tournament game today at the Moda Center.
The win moved Arizona to 33-3 and into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, to a West Region semifinal game on Thursday against the winner of todayβs Xavier-Georgia State game.
Ohio State, which had eliminated UA in the 2013 Sweet 16, finished its season at 24-11.
York scored 19 points with 5-for-9 three-point shooting, making four of his threes after UA took just a 26-25 halftime lead, while McConnell was at his best throughout the game with 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting, six assists, five steals and just one assist.
Those two helped UA compensate for tough offensive nights from Stanley Johnson (1 for 12 shooting) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (3 for 12).
While UA shot just 36.5 percent overall, it held the Buckeyes to 38.5 percent shooting and outrebounded them 43-26.
The Wildcats also scored 20 points off 12 Ohio State turnovers and had 12 second-chance points off their 18 offensive rebounds.
Ahead just 26-25 at halftime, UA stretched it to 41-34 after getting two thre-pointers from York and a rebound basket from Hollis-Jefferson, who picked up Johnsonβs missed layup on a fast-break attempt.
Arizona had made only 1 of 5 threes in the first half, a shot from the left corner by York.
York and Elliott Pitts hit three-pointers midway through the second half, while Ohio State hit just 2 of 8 field goals, to help Arizona take a 57-44 lead with seven minutes left.
Flustered early by Ohio Stateβs zone defense, Arizona recovered enough to take a 26-25 halftime lead.
The Wildcats, which received a team-high eight points in the first half from McConnell, shot only 34.4 percent for the half and had four turnovers in the first five minutes. While they settled down somewhat, it didnβt help Arizona that Johnson and Hollis-Jefferson were a combined 1-for-12 from the field.
But Ohio State standout D'Angelo Russell wasn't much better offensively: He was 2 for 10 from the field for five points with five assists. Russell, who is expected to join Johnson as a high lottery pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, had just nine points on 3-for-19 shooting while being guarded by Hollis-Jeffferson and a number of other UA players.
A pair of free throws by Kaleb Tarczewski with 53 seconds left gave UA the 26-25 lead and Tarczewski blocked a layup from Russell on OSU's final possession. While that block landed out of bounds, the Buckeyes missed their final shot on the possession and Arizona couldn't get a final shot to fall before the buzzer, either.
Ohio State led by up to six points in the first half but a dunk from Tarczewski and layup from Brandon Ashley pulled the Wildcats to within 23-21 at the final media timeout (with 3:54 left).
Knowing an Ohio State zone defense was likely, after the Buckeyes used it with success against VCU on Thursday, the Wildcats still struggled against it early in the game. They were 2 for 6 from the field and had four turnovers through the first five minutes, prompting UA coach Sean Miller to call a timeout with 14:51 remaining.
Miller then used York and Elliott Pitts together and York hit a three-pointer that gave UA a 7-5 lead. McConnell stole the ball on OSUs next possession and made a layup to give UA a 9-5 lead.
But Ohio State had seven points over three minutes from Sam Thompson to take a 14-11 lead with 10:31 to go and Russell made his first basket in six attempts, a three-pointer.
