Five stats that mattered in Ohio State's defeat to Tar Heels

COLUMBUS — Ohio State found itself on the wrong side of a buzzer beater nine days after using one to top Rutgers in the Buckeyes’ Big Ten opener. North Carolina’s Pete Nance kept the Tar Heels alive in Madison Square Garden Saturday with a turnaround fadeaway jumper before the horn.

It forced overtime, during which UNC completed what ended up being a 14-point comeback win.

Then-No. 23 Ohio State dropped its third game of the season and, as a result of the defeat, dropped out of this week’s AP Top 25.

Here are the five Buckeyes-related stats that mattered in the CBS Sports Classic showdown.

50%

FREE THROW PERCENTAGE BUCKEYES RECORDED: Ohio State enjoyed a good bit of success at the free throw line before this past weekend. The Buckeyes were converting 77.5% of their shots from the charity stripe. They couldn’t hit at that same clip Saturday against UNC, though — or come close to it, for that matter. Ohio State was just 7-of-14 from the line, including 5-of-10 in the second half while the Buckeyes were trying to hold onto a lead that was still in double digits with under seven minutes to go in regulation. Justice Sueing, who is shooting 74.3% from the stripe this season, was 1-of-4. And Bruce Thornton was 3-of-5, notably hitting just 2-of-4 free throws in the second half. Ohio State is now 54th nationally in free throw percentage (75.3%) this year.

41

COMBINED SECOND-CHANCE POINTS AND POINTS OFF TURNOVERS UNC RECORDED: UNC scored 27 points off 16 Ohio State turnovers. It was the fifth time this season the Buckeyes have had at least 14 giveaways. Thornton, who has averaged 37 minutes per game with fellow ball handler Isaac Likekele out the last two contests, committed a season-high five turnovers. That was uncharacteristic for the freshman point guard. Thornton came into the day posting just 1.8 giveaways per game. What’s more, West Virginia transfer Sean McNeil also coughed up the ball three times, tying his season high. Sensabaugh hit that mark, too. Ohio State is now second-to-last in the Big Ten in turnover margin (-0.80 per game).

Defensive rebounding has been another concern for the Buckeyes this season. They had three straight games earlier this year — against Cincinnati, Texas Tech and Duke — where their defensive rebounding percentage dipped below 70%, according to Sports Reference. It was under that mark again Saturday versus the Tar Heels, who, atypically, are only 129th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (30.6%), per KenPom. Ohio State logged a 64.1% defensive rebounding percentage, allowing 16 UNC offensive rebounds, which the Tar Heels turned into 14 second-chance points.

9

3-POINTERS RECORDED BY THE BUCKEYES: Ohio State has been thriving from beyond the arc the last few games. The Buckeyes knocked down a season-high 13 triples in the win over St. Francis and then were 8-of-19 from deep in their last-second victory over Rutgers, which, fittingly, called for a Tanner Holden 3-pointer at the buzzer. This past weekend against UNC, Ohio State kept it going by shooting 9-of-24 from long range, and, most notably, 9-of-19 during regulation. The 3-point shot helped the Buckeyes stake themselves to a 14-point lead in the first half. In fact, they reached that junction because of back-to-back 3-point makes from Sensabaugh and Thornton with less than seven minutes left in the opening frame. As he did in the season opener, Zed Key drilled a game-opening triple, not to mention his go-ahead 3-pointer with 31 seconds remaining in regulation.

Six different Buckeyes players connected from deep, and three made at least two shots from outside.

32:38

LEAD TIME BY OHIO STATE: UNC was the AP preseason No. 1 team in the country for a reason. The Tar Heels returned 69.2% of their minutes from last year’s national runner-up squad, per KenPom, and they added a versatile forward in Nance, a Northwestern transfer. So to say Ohio State lost this game more than UNC won it would be a bit rash. That said, the Buckeyes were very much in control during the first half. Tar Heels center Armando Bacot perhaps put it best postgame:

“In the first half, Ohio State did a good job of getting the shots they wanted, getting all the offensive rebounds, and they really kind of punked us,” Bacot said.

With UNC’s shift to a press in the second half, the energy changed in Madison Square Garden. Ohio State went from being in the driver’s seat to tightly gripping its lead. For a while, the Buckeyes did just that, often making timely, and sometimes contested, jumpshots. But, with 1:29 left in regulation, an R.J. Davis 3-pointer gave the Tar Heels their first lead since the 13:22 mark of the opening frame.

Ohio State retook the lead twice more after that, except Nance sent the game to overtime, at which point the Tar Heels seized the contest.

22

POINTS RECORDED BY OHIO STATE’S BRICE SENSABAUGH: Despite the sour ending, there were a bunch of good things for sixth-year Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann to take away from Saturday’s game. One, in particular, was the stardom of Sensabaugh. The elite scoring freshman got his second straight start, and he delivered a season-high 22 points in a season-high 33 minutes of action. While he did have three turnovers, he countered with three assists — his most in a game this year — and he added eight rebounds, including three on the offensive glass. The 6-foot-6 Sensabaugh was highly engaged on both ends and shot 9-of-17 from the field as well as 2-of-6 from deep. After missing a potential game-winner (floater was blocked) against Rutgers, Sensabaugh cashed one against UNC with a pump fake and make from mid-range — the shot fell with only three seconds remaining in regulation.

Sensabaugh still has a ways to go defensively, but he held his own versus the Tar Heels, registering the third-best defensive rating (103.6) of any player in the Buckeyes rotation Saturday. He also notched the third-best stop percentage, which is the rate of defensive possessions where the opposing team did not score (49%). Plus, his 15.8 defensive rebound rate was good for second on the team.