Against Rutgers, Tanner Holden gives Ohio State its first buzzer-beater since Evan Turner
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The only person in Value City Arena on Thursday who might not have seen the final shot go in was the guy who took it.
In a Big Ten opener for Ohio State that featured 12 ties and 11 lead changes, Tanner Holden was the man responsible for the 12th and final one. His 3-pointer from near the hashmark in front of the home team’s bench, uncannily close to where Matt Sylvester famously drained one against Illinois nearly two decades ago, handed the No. 25 Buckeyes a stunning, 67-66 win at the buzzer against Rutgers.
When it swished through the net, Holden didn’t see Ohio State’s first buzzer-beating win since Evan Turner’s 3-pointer against Michigan in the 2010 Big Ten tournament go in so much as he heard it.
“I shot it and couldn’t really see because No. 3 (Rutgers’ Mawot Mag) was in my way, but I heard the crowd go crazy and I celebrated after that and then 15 guys are rushing me,” Holden said. “I don’t even remember (seeing it), honestly. I think I might’ve saw it go through, but I heard the crowd more. I think that reassurance helped me.”
It set off a wild celebration on the court and capped off a seesaw of a final minute for the Buckeyes (7-2) and Scarlet Knights (6-3). When Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi blocked Brice Sensabaugh’s shot with nine seconds remaining, Ohio State fouled to stop the clock and Paul Mulcahy hit both free throws with 7.7 seconds left, the final outcome seemed assured. Even two Bruce Thornton free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining to pull back within a point seemed empty when Caleb McConnell went back to the line with seconds left and a chance to push it back to a three-point lead.
Perfect on nine free throws this season, it was McConnell’s first trip to the line of the night. He sunk the first but missed the second, setting in motion a sequence of events culminating with the first game-winning shot since he was in the fourth grade.
“I almost passed out,” third-year center Zed Key, who had 22 points and 14 rebounds, said of the shot. “I was yelling. I yelled too much. I was down by the block. I couldn’t rebound. The buzzer went off so I just looked up in the air and was like, ‘Oh wow, that’s going in.’
“Then it went in and I just ran. I was more tired chasing after him than the last possession. It’s a great shot, great pass by Bruce (Thornton) and we got the W.”
It was Holden’s first 3-pointer since a win against Eastern Illinois in the third game of the season. It was his only field goal of the game. And it came on a play that coach Chris Holtmann tried to script but came down to the play of two freshmen and a Wright State transfer who has largely been invisible offensively in his first season at the high-major level.
In other words, it was exactly how Holtmann didn’t draw it up. As McConnell went to the line up one, Holtmann subbed out Justice Sueing for Holden expecting that the Rutgers guard would hit both of his free throws and the Buckeyes would have to go the length of the court for a game-tying 3.
“Tanner’s our best long passer,” Holtmann said. “He’s got a really good arm.”
When Mulcahy had gone to the line seconds earlier, the Buckeyes had drawn up a play for Holden to inbound the ball and get it quickly upcourt for a basket without allowing the Scarlet Knights to foul. Instead, it was sniffed out and Thornton was fouled to prevent any attempt at a tying 3-pointer. Sueing returned in place of Holden, and when Thornton hit the pair and fouled McConnell to stop the clock, Holden and Sueing swapped places again.
So when McConnell missed the second free throw, the player who was in the court just to throw a long pass instead had to charge upcourt in the hopes of a miracle. It’s a situation the Buckeyes practice frequently.
“We have situations set up for that in practice that we work through every day, so I knew what I had to do in that play,” Holden said. “Everyone knew what they had to do.”
Once McConnell missed, the top priority was to get the ball to Ohio State’s best decision-maker. That has become freshman point guard Bruce Thornton, who on this night played all but 90 seconds after a physical Rutgers team that bumped and harassed him at every opportunity.
Sensabaugh got the rebound and fed it to Thornton, who was forced toward the right sideline. With Holden running ahead of him, Thornton was bumped as he tried to turn the corner on a defender, appeared to nearly step on the sideline but with an official trailing was able to toss a pass ahead to Holden, who jumped back inbounds, caught it and fired.
When it fell through, the crowd of 14,042 roared and Holtmann barely flinched as he watched to see if the official was going to make a call.
“I wanted to make sure it was good, first,” the coach said. “It was an emotional moment for sure. I wanted to make sure the game was actually over.”
It was – to the disbelief of the visitors, who tied the game with 2:58 remaining and led until the final buzzer. Some of them stood, arms clasped on their heads, in disbelief. Others collapsed to the court.
“Brice did a good job letting the ball bounce,” Holden said. “(Thornton) came and got the ball. I was working really hard on the sideline trying to get by his guy and I just so happened to get open.”
The rest is history.
And, for the record, Holden was 9 years old when Turner beat the Wolverines with his shot.
Buckeyes persevere without Isaac Likekele
Ohio State’s depth took a hit leading into the game with the news that Oklahoma State graduate transfer Isaac Likekele would not be with the team as he returned home to Texas to deal with some personal situations. In his absence, freshman Brice Sensabaugh made his first career start and the Buckeyes had to scramble to replace the contributions of one of their most well-rounded players.
Asked what Ohio State missed without Likekele, Holtmann said, “Passing. Decision making. And then his ability to guard their bigger guards. Mulcahy is a real load with the ball in his hands. There’s certain teams in the league where you’re like, we need to have this guy. I can think of three teams right now. This was one of them.”
Sensabaugh, who hadn’t played more than 24:14 in a game this year, was on the court for 31:25 and finished with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting. He went 3 for 4 from 3-point range as Ohio State made 8 of 19 (42.1%) of its attempts against a defense holding teams to 20.6% shooting from deep entering the game.
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“Ice is an intangibles guy,” Key said. “He plays really hard. Defense, he’s going to lock up his defender. We definitely missed him out there but other guys stepped up and made plays. It just shows us the depth on this team and guys staying ready.”
Ohio State didn’t learn it would be without Likekele until Wednesday afternoon, giving Holtmann about 24 hours to prepare for his absence.
“We had to simplify some things,” he said. “We had a couple plays bust in the first half because we had to teach Justice three positions because he’s backing up the point. We just weren’t as clean as we needed to be with some of those play-busts. Even some of our simple things, it was just hard because for Isaac we just had this conversation (Wednesday) afternoon. It was a pretty quick turnaround for us.”
It’s not clear when Likekele will return, but he is expected to return.
“Our thoughts are with Isaac and his family,” Holtmann said. “It’s a very personal situation to him. He’s went through some really difficult things with people he really cares about. There’s no real timetable on his return.”
Zed Key, Clifford Omoruyi go way back
The opening lines of Wolfmother’s “Woman” were blaring around Value City Arena and the pre-tip song was threatening to head into its second verse as the Ohio State and Rutgers centers stood at midcourt waiting for the jump ball.
Key, listed at 6-8, 255 pounds, looked all around and glanced at his Rutgers counterpart, Clifford Omoruyi. Looming there at 6-11, 240 pounds, Omoruyi did not – or purposely chose not to – make eye contact with the Buckeye. It was a prelude to what was to come for a pair of New York-New Jersey products whose battles stretch back a few years.
Hailing from Bay Shore, New York, Key was a three-star prospect and the No. 31 center in the 2020 class according to 247Sports.com. His hometown lies about 65 miles west of Roselle, New Jersey, where Omoruyi was a four-star prospect and the No. 13 center in the same recruiting class.
Frequently matched up with each other in this game, Key’s 22 points and 14 rebounds outshone Omoruyi’s 16 and eight, respectively, but when the Rutgers big man drew a foul while scoring on Key he turned a celebration back on Key. Omoruyi fired his imaginary finger guns, Key’s customary celebration for a chance at a three-point play.
“I played against Cliff from the tri-state area in high school days and AAU,” Key said. “He’s a very good defender. He’s very athletic and a great big. He did a good job tonight.”
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As for the finger guns, Key laughed that off.
“There’s no backstory there,” he said. “Teams are going to try to get into my head doing my celebrations. It’s OK. They did it my freshman year when I fouled one of their big men. It doesn’t bother me, no.”
Quotable
“Just how we drew it up.” – Holtmann, on Holden’s game-winning shot
“We knew they were going to be a tough team. I think we prepared for that. Ice wasn’t here so a lot of guys had to step up. Everybody played big minutes, contributed in different ways. I think we really just grinded this one out. I don’t think it’s very pretty, but a win’s a win.” – Holden
“I think we turned the ball over a little bit too much today in crucial moments. We work on that every day. We’ll definitely get better with that, starting tomorrow. Rutgers is a good team. They’re not going to just roll over. They battled back. That’s the Big Ten for you.” – Key, on what changed after Ohio State built an 11-point lead with 4:06 to play in the first half
“He’s a gamer. He’s made big shots his whole life. He made a game-winning reception as a wide receiver in the state championship game.” – Holtmann, on Holden
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Tanner Holden 'couldn't really see' buzzer-beating 3 for Ohio State
