![]() ![]() Only two Buckeyes on this year’s team were part of that game - E.J. It was the first true road environment Ohio State had seen since its final game pre-pandemic: a March 8, 2020, game at sold-out Michigan State on Senior Day. Some of them had been in a line stretching around the arena since before 8 a.m. Scruggs had a lot to do with that, scoring eight of his 14 points during the final 68 seconds of play as that crowd of students roared. Trailing by 10 points with eight minutes to play, the Buckeyes made it interesting with a 10-3 run but never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. Feels terrible, but I’m glad we were part of it.” “We came to shootaround and there were 250 students greeting us in a really friendly way on the way in,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. It just wasn’t one Ohio State fans wanted to read. But the clear focus for the Musketeers on Thursday night was outlined in the pregame hype video showing clips from that game with the tag line: “What’s done is done. In that 2007 game, Justin Cage’s missed free throw with 9.3 seconds left kept the Xavier lead at three points, and Ron Lewis’ tying 3-pointer lives forever in Ohio State history. And in case they forgot about that history, a pregame video showing the 2007 NCAA Tournament game the Buckeyes won in overtime played on the Cintas Center scoreboard in the final minutes before the tip. This time, though, Scruggs hit both of his attempts and added two more with five seconds to play to give Xavier (3-0) a 71-65 win against Ohio State (3-1) that sated a rabid home crowd baying for a reckoning for the last time these teams played. So there he was, heading to the line with a chance to push the lead against the Buckeyes back to two possessions in the final seconds. Liddell, Buckeyes lament lack of toughness in loss at Xavier The Musketeers had led since the opening possession, but the Buckeyes had trimmed an 11-point lead to two points on a Jamari Wheeler 3-pointer and fouled the fifth-year Xavier guard to stop the clock. 19 Ohio State, and Scruggs was going to the free-throw line with a chance to essentially ice the game. Only 16.3 seconds remained in Thursday night’s Gavitt Games showdown between Xavier and No. CINCINNATI - Paul Scruggs was not about to let history repeat itself. ![]()
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