Last week in Dayton, Aaron Craft hit the shot that sent the Buckeyes here for the Sweet Sixteen. Thursday night it was LaQuinton Ross who swished a long 3-pointer that sent Arizona home and Ohio State on to the Elite Eight. Both times Deshaun Thomas, who averages 20 points a game, was nothing more than a spectator with the best seat in the house.
Craft insists there is no go-to-guy on this Ohio State team. “I have confidence in a variety of people to take that shot down the stretch,” he said. “We don’t try to pigeon hole ourselves, we just try to put ourselves in a position to be successful and give confidence to whoever is going to take it.”
As for Thomas, the Buckeyes’ leading scorer admitted that a year ago he might not have been happy not getting the ball when the game was on the line. “I would have threw a fit, but this is all me growing up as a person,” Thomas said. “You know, guys are making plays and I like that and this is just me being a team player and having confidence in them.”
That confidence has given coach Thad Matta the ability to rely on a variety of players, especially during the current 11-game winning streak. “The thing I have always felt comfortable with this team is guys have had good stretches,” Matta said.
Back-to-back wins in the closing seconds is a confidence boost but so is the fact that for the first time all season Ohio State was able to rally from a double-digit deficit to win a game. There is still one team standing in the way of a return trip to the Final Four and nobody is looking past Wichita State. “They are a team that’s on a roll right now,” Sam Thompson said. “They’re playing their best basketball of the season just like we are.”
Will the Buckeyes need another last-second hero tonight and, if so, who will it be? The road to the Final Four in the West Region is a Hollywood script that still needs an ending.
About the Author