The George Mason Patriots were supposed to give the Ohio State Buckeyes some trouble in their 3rd ROund game this afternoon in Cleveland. Ohio State made sure early on that any magic GMU possessed had quickly dried up.
On a day when four Buckeyes received their diplomas, one of them - David Lighty - drilled seven three pointers on his way to 25 points and the top-seeded Buckeyes raced to a 26-point halftime lead on their way to a 98-66 win. Jared Sullinger scored 18 points for the Buckeys, who actually feel behind to start the game 11-2.
The lead didn't last long for the Patriots, however, as Ohio State used a 15-3 run to take the lead at 17-14, a lead Ohio State would never give back to George Mason.
Up 26-20 with 9:00 minutes to go in the first half, the Buckeyes went on their decisive 26-6 run to end the half, led by Lighty, Sullinger and Jon Diebler. The Buckeyes 16 three pointers broke a NCAA Tournament record for most threes in a game, a record they set on Friday by hitting 12 threes.
The Buckeyes shot 61% from the field and, amazingly, shot even better from behind the arc(16-26, 61.5%). Ohio State turned the ball over 9 times compared to 17 times for the Patriots who shot 43.3% from the field.
Up next for Ohio State is Kentucky in the Sweet 16 on Friday, March 25.