Ohio State basketball’s season ends in heartbreaking loss to Georgia in NIT quarters

Oh, so close! #GoBucks

The Ohio State basketball’s season has come to an end in heartbreaking fashion in Value City Arena on Tuesday night with a 79-77 loss. The No. 2 seeded Buckeyes matched up with No. 4 seed Georgia and it was a game of back-and-forth runs with the clock seemingly running out on the Scarlet and Gray.

In fact, both halves saw runs both ways with the Bulldogs enjoying the largest leads with OSU battling back each time. The teams went to halftime with Georgia up by just one point, 36-35.

The Dawgs would take control of the game with a double-digit lead more than once in the second half, but as we’ve seen under new head coach, Jake Diebler, the Buckeyes simply wouldn’t give up, eventually taking the lead late.

However, Georgia made one more play than Ohio State and was able to notch the close victory with clutch shots at the end of the game. OSU would have one a couple of chances at the end, but Bruce Thornton’s three-point attempt rimmed out, and one last ditch three-point effort by Jamison Battle to win the game with just 1.3 seconds left was also off the mark.

Battle led Ohio State in scoring with a game high 22 points. Thornton (13), Felix Okpara (12), and Roddy Gayle Jr. (11) also scored in double figures.

The loss closes the books on the 2023-2024 season. OSU ends the campaign with a 22-13 record but with what looks like a bright future if it can carry through the momentum of what we saw at the end of the season.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.