Perrantes, No. 7 Virginia squeak by Ohio State
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - London Perrantes scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and No. 7 Virginia overcame a sloppy performance and rallied past Ohio State 63-61 on Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Devon Hall added 12 points for the Cavaliers (7-0), who trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and didn't take the lead for good until Marial Shayok's baseline runner made it 59-57 with 1:58 remaining.
The Buckeyes (6-1) trailed 63-61 when Shayok missed two free throws with 10.5 seconds left. Coach Thad Matta called a timeout with 6.5 seconds to play, but JaQuan Lyle couldn't find an open teammate as the clock ran down and launched a 3-point try that missed badly.
Jae'Sean Tate led Ohio State with 14 points and Lyle had 12.
BIG PICTURE
Ohio State: The Buckeyes are knocking on the door of the Top 25 with only one senior on their roster in forward Marc Loving, their third-leading scorer. Matta has lots to work with, especially in Tate, an athletic, and impressive sophomores C.J. Jackson and Lyle, and win or lose, tight games in packed arenas like John Paul Jones Arena can only help Ohio State as it moved toward play in the rugged Big Ten.
Virginia: It's when outside shots aren't falling that the Cavaliers will most miss forward Austin Nichols, a transfer from Memphis who was eligible this season, but was kicked off the team after the second game for a violation of team rules. Nichols was not only a gifted inside scorer, but a rebounder and rim-protector on defense and when the Buckeyes drove mercilessly to the basket in the first half, Virginia had no answer, getting outscored 22-4 in the paint in the half.
UP NEXT
Ohio State returns home to face Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday and then Florida Atlantic before playing host to Connecticut next Saturday.
Virginia faces its third Power Five conference school in four games when No. 25 West Virginia visits John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday.