First half
6:37 p.m.: After relinquishing a lead for the first time, falling behind 13-11 with 10:44 left in the first half, Ohio picked up a couple of shots on the perimeter between a jumper by Lunden McDay and a 3-pointer by Ben Roderick to move back ahead of Creighton. Roderick has hit a pair of 3-po
6:28 p.m.: As Ohio leads Creighton 11-10 nearly midway through the first half, neither team is shooting particularly well with 11:30 to go until half. The Bobcats have made 5 of 15 attempts (1 of 5 from 3-point range), and the Bluejays have hit 5 of 14 shots (0 of 3 from 3).
6:21 p.m.: After grabbing an early 5-0 lead within the first two minutes, the Bobcats went on a scoring drought of more than two minutes. Their lead was shortened to 5-4 by the first media timeout at the 15:47 mark of the first half.
Pregame
The Ohio men’s basketball team is on the cusp of its first Sweet 16 appearance in nearly a decade.
The Bobcats, who last reached the NCAA regional semifinals in 2012, must first get past fifth-seeded Creighton when the teams meet in the round of 32.
More:Ben Vander Plas leads Ohio's March Madness upset of Virginia
Seeded 13th in the West region, they advanced to Monday night’s matchup after a 62-58 upset of fourth-seeded Virginia over the weekend.
In the triumph, junior Jason Preston emerged as a tournament breakout start, recording a near triple-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
A playmaking 6-foot-4 guard, Preston was an overlooked high school recruit before enrolling at a prep school in Tennessee and ending up at Ohio.
Part of his emergence came from a growth spurt. He grew four inches following his senior season Boone High School in Orlando, Florida.
Ohio's Jason Preston faces a tough matchup in Creighton star Marcus Zegarowski
Preston is likely to be matched up against Creighton star guard Marcus Zegarowski, who leads his team in scoring with 15.6 points per game.
Zegarowski finished with 17 points and eight rebounds as the Bluejays avoided a potential first-round upset at the hands of 12th-seeded UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, holding on for a 63-62 victory.
The two guards direct offenses that operate at different speeds.
Ohio’s average possession length of 17.1 seconds ranks 153rd out of 357 Division I teams, according to the statistician Ken Pomeroy, while Creighton moves at a quicker pace of 16 seconds per possession to rank 39th.
The matchup might then test the styles of play when the teams tip off at 6:10 p.m. on CBS.
@joeyrkaufman
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