The Ohio State Buckeyes picked up a big win in the NCAA tournament on Saturday, besting the Gonzaga Bulldogs 73-66 in a very close affair. With just three minutes to go, the Buckeyes and Bulldogs were actually tied at 61-61, with Gonzaga making some excellent shots in succession to overcome a near 10-point deficit. It wasn't a huge comeback, and it probably can't even be described as such anyway - seeing as how it fell short.
Gonzaga did make things interesting again near the very end, but Gary Bell Jr.'s three-pointer with 12 seconds left wasn't enough to lift them past Ohio State. The Buckeyes led by just two points after a very close first half that saw both teams lapse defensively, with OSU leading 39-37 after said half. They out-paced Gonzaga in the second though, with a score of 34-29 over that frame.
Ohio State added a couple free throws at the end to make it 73-66 and that was that. They'll advance past the No. 7 seed Bulldogs onto bigger and better things. Jared Sullinger, unsurprisingly, led the way with 18 points and two three-pointers made. Deshaun Thomas followed with three of his own three-pointers and a 7-for-14 mark shooting, while pulling down six rebounds - which was the most of any Ohio State player.
Rebounds are what really kept Gonzaga in this one, with 31 of them to Ohio State's 25, but the Buckeyes shot 48.1 percent on the night to Gonzaga's 38.6 percent. That was the deciding factor to a fast-paced, high energy game (though the first half is better described that way than the second).
For more on the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket, stay with SB Nation's Selection Sunday StoryStream, and stick around SB Nation's NCAA Tournament hub for a completeprintable NCAA Tournament bracket and tons of analysis on who was snubbed, who got the best bracket, and who will make it all the way to New Orleans and the Final Four.