BATON ROUGE, La. — Jacy Sheldon had 25 points and five steals, and No. 6 seed Ohio State overcame an early double-digit deficit to beat 11th seed Missouri State 63-56 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
Sheldon also made 10 of 12 free throws for the Buckeyes (24-6), who didn't take the lead for good until Taylor Mikesell made a 3-pointer form the left corner to make it 54-52 with 3:10 left.
Missouri State (25-8) got as close as 58-56 with 41 seconds left on a Brice Calip putback. But Sheldon, who averaged nearly 20 points per game this season, responded with a layup and two free throws to help seal the victory for the Buckeyes, who are playing in their first NCAA Tournament since 2018.
Mikesell finished with 14 points for Ohio State.
Calip scored 15 points, Ifunanya Nwachukwu grabbed 17 rebounds and Abigayle Jackson scored 11 points for Missouri State, which made it to the opening round in the Spokane Region by beating Florida State in a play-in Thursday night.
The largely tight, tense and defensive contest had 13 led changes and seven ties.
Ohio State made just one of 13 shots in the first quarter, after which Missouri State led 14-5. And early in the second quarter, Missouri State led by as many as 12 points after Calip's free throws made it 20-8, and the Buckeyes were 2-for-17 shooting before they began to close the gap.
Sheldon, Rikki Harris and Mikesell combined to make three straight 3s, trimming Missouri State's lead to 22-17.
Sheldon's transition layup after a steal by Mikesell gave Ohio State the lead at 25-24 with 1:14 left in the half, marking the second of five Ohio State layups in the final three minutes that came immediately after Missouri State turnovers.
Ohio State closed the half with three straight layups — the last two after turnovers — capping a 23-6 run that give the Buckeyes a 31-26 lead.
But Ohio State's shooting accuracy faltered again in the third quarter, which allowed Missouri State to methodically pull back in front, 36-35 on Calip's free throw. Sheldon's offensive rebound allowed Ohio State to go back in front 44-43 on Mikulasikova's 3 shortly before the end of the period.
BIG PICTURE
Missouri State: The Bears' defense and rebounding was as good as advertised, holding Ohio State about 20 points below its average of 79.2 points per game coming in. But the Bears' overall shooting percentage of 33.3% (21 of 63) wasn't quite good enough.
Ohio State: The Buckeyes looked rusty offensively, particularly early, in what was their first game since falling to Indiana in the Big Ten semifinals on March 5. It didn't help that they were playing one of the better defensive and rebounding tames in the country. But Ohio State maintained its composure, made 20 of 30 free throws and effectively pressed Missouri State into 22 turnovers that the Buckeyes converted into 25 points.
UP NEXT
Ohio State plays Monday against Louisiana State University.
The tip time for Monday's game has yet to be announced.
