, who trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and didn't take the lead for good until Marial Shayok's baseline runner made it 59-57 with 1:58 remaining. The Buckeyes (6-1) trailed 63-61 when Shayok missed two free throws with 10.5 seconds left. Coach Thad Matta called a timeout with 6.5 seconds to play, but JaQuan Lyle couldn't find an open teammate as the clock ran down and launched a 3-point try that missed badly.'' I hope we take a lot from it because I told them after the game, `We're close, but we're not there yet,''' Matta said. As the Cavaliers rallied in the second half and the crowd whipped into a frenzy, the Buckeyes hurt their chances with 11 of their season-high 20 turnovers, some of them more caused by carelessness than pressure from Virginia, and they almost all proved costly.'' As great teams do, they capitalized on every mistake we made down the stretch,'' Matta said. Jae'Sean Tate led Ohio State with 14 points and Lyle had 12. BIG PICTUREOhio State: The Buckeyes are knocking on the door of the Top 25 with only one senior on their roster in forward Marc Loving, their third-leading scorer. Matta has lots to work with, especially in Tate, an athletic, and impressive sophomores C. J. Jackson and Lyle, and win or lose, tight games in packed arenas like John Paul Jones Arena can only help Ohio State as it moved toward play in the rugged Big Ten. Virginia: It's when outside shots aren't falling that the Cavaliers will most miss forward Austin Nichols, a transfer from Memphis who was eligible this season, but was kicked off the team after the second game for a violation of team rules. Nichols was not only a gifted inside scorer, but a rebounder and rim-protector on defense and when the Buckeyes drove mercilessly to the basket in the first half, Virginia had no answer, getting outscored 22-4 in the paint in the half. Virginia closed the margin after the break, and finished trailed 32-18 in the paint. SPARKPLUGThe Buckeyes' Jackson found his stroke, hitting three 3-pointers in four tries. He came into the game 1 of 11 from beyond the arc. UNSUNG HEROVirginia's Darius Thompson scored just four points, but both baskets came during an 11-0 run to begin the second half, turning a 36-24 halftime deficit into a 36-35 Buckeyes' lead. Thompson finished with three rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. HE SAID IT''I told him, `Last year it was Brogdon. This year it's you.'' ' - Matta on a postgame exchange with Perrantes, the Cavaliers unquestioned leader who has assumed the role occupied last season by Malcolm Brogdon, now with the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA. UP NEXTOhio State returns home to face Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday and then Florida Atlantic before playing host to Connecticut next Saturday. Virginia faces its third Power Five conference school in four games when No. 25 West Virginia visits John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org---Follow Hank on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hankkurzjr)
Time: 09:00 P.M. EST Sixth-ranked Virginia has never missed an ACC-Big Ten Challenge. This week marks the 18th annual battle between teams from two of the top conferences in the country, as the Cavaliers enter their matchup Wednesday night with Ohio State in Charlottesville, Va. riding a two-game win streak in the competition. On the flip side, the Buckeyes have dropped two straight in the challenge and take on Virginia for the second straight season. Virginia knocked off Ohio State in Columbus 64-58 last year behind 22 points from Malcolm Brogdon, who now plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. Point guard London Perrantes missed last season's game after an appendectomy but will be at full strength this season. Perrantes is coming off of a tournament MVP award at the Emerald Coast Classic last weekend that saw the Cavaliers take home the title with wins over Iowa and Providence. Providence head coach Ed Cooley had high praise for the 6-foot-2 senior point guard." He might be one of the most poised basketball players I have ever seen play the game of basketball," Cooley said after the Friars' loss to the Cavaliers. Perrantes put in 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists to help Virginia stay unbeaten at 6-0 this season. Ohio State is coming off of a 41-point win over Marshall on Friday and also enters Wednesday night's game at 6-0. The Buckeyes have spread the wealth so far this season as they boast six players averaging at least 10 points per game. Thad Matta's squad is led by Jae'Sean Tate who is scoring at a 14 points per game clip and is pulling down seven rebounds per game. He will be a handful for Virginia's frontcourt. The Buckeyes will likely not come close to their 111-point outing against Marshall as Virginia enters Wednesday with the nation's top scoring defense. Providence scored 52 points against the Cavaliers and became the highest-scoring Virginia opponent this season. Iowa managed just 41 points against the Cavaliers in Friday night's game after they came in averaging 94 points per game. The Hawkeyes followed up that performance by scoring 92 points against Memphis. Bottom line is, Virginia's defense is already in mid-season form just six games into the season. Ohio State ranks 33rd in the country in rebounding as they pull down and average of 41 per game but they might be tested by a Virginia team that is outrebounding its opponents by 13. Bench scoring has been a key for the Cavaliers and it should continue to be as Perrantes and guard Darius Thompson became the first starters to lead the Cavaliers in scoring when they tallied 11 points apiece against Providence. Freshman Kyle Guy continues to shine for Virginia as he provides a spark off of the bench for Tony Bennett's team. The Cavaliers look to improve on their 10-6 record in the challenge while Ohio State looks to even up its 7-8 record.
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