COLUMBUS – The Buckeyes are headed to the 2018 NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the West Region and will play South Dakota State Thursday afternoon.
(5) Ohio St. (24-8) vs. (12) S. Dakota St. (28-6): Thursday, Taco Bell Arena, Boise (4:00 p.m./TNT)
Led by first-year head coach Chris Holtmann and Big Ten Player of the Year Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State (24-8) is making its 28th appearance in the tournament. The Buckeyes are 49-26 all-time in tournament play, advancing to the Final Four 10 times, finishing as runner up in 1939, 1961, 1962 and 2007 and winning one national championship in 1960.
The Jackrabbits, out of the Summit League, will be playing in their third-consecutive NCAA Tournament and sixth in the last seven seasons. They won the league’s regular-season and tournament championships, paced by junior forward Mike Daum’s averages 23.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.
Bates-Diop averages a team-high 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game for Ohio State while senior Jae’Sean Tate adds 12.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Junior guard C.J. Jackson chips in 12.2 points and a team-best 124 total assists.
The Buckeyes are one of three teams from Ohio and four from the Big Ten to make the tournament’s 68-team field.
Xavier followed up one of the best regular seasons in program history with its first No. 1 NCAA Tournament seeding. The Musketeers are tops in the West Region and will face the winner of the game between North Carolina Central and Texas Southern in Nashville.
Virginia, Villanova and Kansas are the other No. 1 seeds. All four have been caught up in allegations of rule-breaking that have topped the headlines in 2017-18 through various news reports and investigations.
Cincinnati is the No. 2 team in the South after Gary Clark’s free throw with 4.3 seconds remaining allowed the eighth-ranked Bearcats to escape with a 56-55 triumph over No. 25 Houston in the American Athletic Conference title game.
Michigan State is the No. 3 seed in the Midwest, Big Ten champion Michigan is third in Midwest and Purdue is the second seed in the East.