San Antonio – For 39 minutes and 59 seconds, the best pro prospect in college basketball was basically an invisible 7-foot man. Plagued by foul trouble and a guard-oriented scheme, Greg Oden had all of nine points and three rebounds.
But the last second Thursday night is why basketball brains say he is the NBA’s next great big man. His block of Ramar Smith’s driving layup at the buzzer preserved top-ranked Ohio State’s 85-84 comeback win over Tennessee in a South Regional semifinal.
The Buckeyes (33-3), the South’s No. 1 seed with a 20-game win streak, will play second-seeded Memphis, also 33-3 with a 25-game streak, at 2:40 p.m. MDT Saturday for a Final Four berth.
“Obviously, they’ve got a grit, a resolve,” Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said.
Once again, Ohio State looked vulnerable. Once again, it appeared helpless at times defensively, falling behind by 20 points late in the first half. But any team that can beat Tennessee (27-7) with Oden primarily as a spectator must still be feared. The Buckeyes got a game-high 25 points from Ron Lewis, who has carried them through this NCAA Tournament, and 17 from fellow guard Mike Conley Jr.
It was actually Conley who won the game. The score was tied 84-84 after Smith’s free throw with 38.7 seconds left when Conley dribbled idly against the guard of JaJuan Smith. Conley, who had eaten up Tennessee’s backcourt like so many breakfast tacos, drove past him and into the lane.
JaJuan Smith fouled him with 6.5 seconds left, and Conley made the first free throw for the 85-84 lead. However, he missed the second and Ramar Smith rebounded.
Pearl, who turned this program around with a frantic pace, didn’t call a timeout. Smith began penetrating against Conley’s close guard.
Nearing the basket, however, Oden loomed toward the side of the key, anticipating the shot. His mere presence made Smith put up an awkward, twisting shot that might not have even beaten the final buzzer. However, Oden made that debate moot by batting it into the seats behind the basket.
If Conley had made the second free throw, Pearl wanted forward Wayne Chism to set a screen for Ramar Smith in the middle of the floor.
“When he missed the free throw and Ramar got the rebound, we’re still in good shape,” Pearl. said. “But I don’t know if Chism ever – I know he didn’t – stopped. I wanted him to stop at the 10-second line, because maybe Oden would have stopped with him.”
In the season’s second half and as his broken wrist from last season slowly healed, Oden has become closer to the offensive force everyone envisioned. Thursday night was not one of those nights. It marked his fewest points since scoring five in a blowout of Northwestern on Jan. 17, and the three rebounds were a season low.
Then again, he played only 18 minutes. He picked up three quick fouls in the first half and Tennessee took advantage. When the fifth-seeded Volunteers weren’t driving to the hoop, they were hitting 9-of-15 3-pointers in the period. After Chris Lofton converted an uncontested rebound, Tennessee had a 49-29 lead on the seemingly flat and disinterested Buckeyes.
The Volunteers shot 56 percent in the half and had only three turnovers.
It didn’t take long for Ohio State to wake up from the doldrums.
Lewis scored nine points in a two-minute span and the Ohio State defense got tough, and the Buckeyes had a 64-64 tie by the 9:34 mark.
“We saw their body language coming out the second half and we knew we had to attack,” Lewis said.
TENNESSEE (24-11)
Chism 2-7 2-4 6, Bradshaw 1-4 2-2 5, J. Smith 5-10 0-0 14, Lofton 9-18 0-0 24, R. Smith 6-10 3-7 15, Howell 0-0 0-0 0, Tabb 1-3 0-0 3, Crews 2-5 1-4 5, Childress 4-5 0-0 12. Totals 30-62 8-17 84.
OHIO ST. (33-3)
Harris 4-4 0-0 11, Oden 2-2 5-6 9, Conley Jr. 4-10 9-14 17, Lewis 9-17 4-4 25, Butler 1-6 0-0 3, Lighty 2-3 2-5 7, Cook 2-4 0-0 4, Terwilliger 1-3 3-4 5, Hunter 2-2 0-2 4. Totals 27-51 23-35 85.
Halftime – Tennessee 49-32. 3-point goals – Tennessee 16-31 (Lofton 6-13, J. Smith 4-5, Childress 4-5, Tabb 1-1, Bradshaw 1-3, Chism 0-4), Ohio St. 8-22 (Harris 3-3, Lewis 3-9, Lighty 1-2, Butler 1-6, Terwilliger 0-1, Cook 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Tennessee 34 (J. Smith 8), Ohio St. 33 (Conley Jr. 7). Assists – Tennessee 14 (Bradshaw, R. Smith 4), Ohio St. 13 (Conley Jr. 6). Total fouls – Tennessee 24, Ohio St. 17. A – 26,776.
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
