National Basketball Association
North Carolina 73, Ohio 65
When: 7:47 PM ET, Friday, March 23, 2012
Where: Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri
Officials:
# Don Daily, # Tom Eades, # Kelly Self
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
North Carolina 73, Ohio 65 (OT): Tyler Zeller scored 20 points and pulled down a career-high 22 rebounds, and the top-seeded Tar Heels survived a serious scare from No. 13 seed Ohio in a Midwest Regional semifinal in St. Louis. The Tar Heels advanced to face the N.C. State-Kansas winner in Sunday's regional final.
The Bobcats (29-8) had a difficult time dealing with North Carolina's size advantage inside -- the Tar Heels held a 26-14 rebounding edge in the first half and finished with a 55-27 edge on the boards -- but they neutralized the mismatch with red-hot outside shooting and forced overtime.
Ohio made 12 3-pointers, including six from Walter Offutt, who scored a game-high 26 points.
Zeller had a double-double before the end of the first half and became the first player with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in an NCAA tournament game since Tim Duncan did it for Wake Forest in 1997.
The Tar Heels (32-5) were without one of their stars in point guard Kendall Marshall, who broke his wrist in North Carolina's previous game against Creighton.
Making matters worse, another of their stars did little to contribute, as Harrison Barnes went 3 for 16 from the field.
Reggie Bullock picked up much of the slack with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels led by as many as 15 early, but Ohio surged to get within 29-22 at halftime despite shooting 23 percent in the first half.
Top Game Performances
Ohio |
|
North Carolina |
Walter Offutt 26 |
Scoring |
Tyler Zeller 20 |
D.J. Cooper 6 |
Assists |
Stilman White 6 |
Nick Kellogg 8 |
Rebounds |
Tyler Zeller 22 |
D.J. Cooper 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Harrison Barnes 4 |
Ivo Baltic 4 |
Steals |
Reggie Bullock 1 |
Ivo Baltic 1 |
Blocks |
Tyler Zeller 4 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Ohio
|
65 |
32.4 |
12-32 |
7-8 |
17 |
26 |
3 |
13 |
13 |
North Carolina
|
73 |
40.0 |
7-22 |
14-24 |
18 |
56 |
8 |
4 |
24 |