Ohio State’s NCAA Tournament win first of its kind since 1946

The Ohio State Buckeyes accomplished what they were unable to last year with a First Round NCAA Tournament win. But the victory was also a bit historic. 

Surely with memories of their upset loss to Oral Roberts as a No. 2 seed last year in the NCAA Tournament dancing through their heads, the Ohio State Buckeyes took the floor in Pittsburgh for the First Round of March Madness to kick off Friday’s action. They again appeared in danger of getting upset as they squared off against the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers.

Despite the matchup, though, the Buckeyes took care of business and clawed their way to advance to the weekend with a 54-41 win.

It might not have been a fast-paced affair that gets the juices going, but E.J. Liddell and the rest of Chris Holtman’s team won’t complain as they got the win. However, the low-scoring affair actually led to a bit of history for Ohio State.

Ohio State’s NCAA Tournament win over Loyola-Chicago was a first in over 75 years

As it turns out, winning in March Madness with only 54 points in the Buckeyes’ favor is something that’s almost never been done. Specifically, OSU hadn’t won a game in the NCAA Tournament scoring fewer than 55 points in over 75 years.

Though that might come across as a dubious achievement for the young men from Columbus but, in actuality, it should be promising for Buckeyes fans.

The fact that Ohio State was able to play a quality Loyola-Chicago team at the Ramblers’ pace and not necessarily the Buckeyes’ and come out with a pretty comfortable win speaks highly of what OSU is capable of as they move forward in March Madness.

At the very least, though, they’re already off to a better start than last year.

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