DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Khalif Wyatt patted his chest twice, acknowledging that his incredible game wasn’t going to be quite enough. Across the court, the Hoosiers’ heartbeats could finally slow down.
No. 1 Indiana had barely escaped the big upset.
The Hoosiers finally figured out a way to stop Wyatt – bump him, shadow him, deny him the ball – and used a closing 10-0 run to beat Temple 58-52 on Sunday at the University of Dayton Arena, sending them into the round of 16 for the second year in a row.
”That was a relief,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said.
Tell Ohio State about it.
The second-seeded Buckeyes also advanced with a pulsating finish, beating Iowa State 78-75 on Aaron Craft’s 3-pointer with a half-second left. Ohio State is in the round of 16 for a school-record fourth year in a row, the last high seed remaining in the tournament’s most busted bracket – the Wild West.
”The moment is definitely bigger than me,” said Craft, who won it with his only 3-pointer of the game.
Now, the two Big Ten heavyweights go their separate ways. Indiana (29-6) heads to the East Regional to play fourth-seeded Syracuse on Thursday in a rematch of the 1987 title game won by the Hoosiers. Ohio State (28-7) goes to Los Angeles to play sixth-seeded Arizona in the West Regional, which is missing four of its top five seeds.
Ohio State was the lone one to make it past the opening weekend.
”With all that’s gone on in college basketball, anything’s possible,” Craft said. ”You can see it with what’s gone on in our bracket right now.”
Continue Reading: Hoosiers, Buckeyes survive to reach NCAA Sweet 16 (The Associated Press)
