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The trio began destroying any flow the game had early on. With 13:42 left in the first half, Syracuse guard Dion Waiters went to the basket. Sullinger, who already had a foul, put up his hands, backed away, and generally did everything you can do to avoid a foul without also being suspected of shaving points. He got whistled anyway. Out he went for the rest of the half.
That was the pattern ? calls being made on what it looked like might happen, or being made on what seemed to be happening. Both teams were in the bonus by the 12-minute mark of the second half. That they continued to play as hard as they did was a tribute to the players on both squads.
Nevertheless, Sullinger's departure was a pivotal moment, and it was Syracuse's one great opportunity to make any kind of run at the Buckeyes. That they didn't was completely a function of the two guys with whom Thad Matta was able to steal the last two-thirds of the first half.
First, he went to Evan Ravenel, a granite-browed escapee from Boston College whom Marcellus Wallace would have hired on sight. Ravenel sets a ferocious pick, and he is even more immovable under the basket than Sullinger is. He played nine crucial minutes in the first half, during which time he scored three points, grabbed a rebound, and helped Ohio State stay within two points. Then, Syracuse's Scoop Jardine cut from right to left through the lane and got hit by his own center, Baye Keita. The whistle blew and Ravenel got the foul, probably because he was the only Buckeye within three feet of the shooter. That was his second, so out he went, replaced by 6-foot-11 freshman Amir Williams, who had played a little over 22 minutes in the previous month. The first thing Williams did was get lost in transition and get his head dunked on by C.J. Fair.
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)and if the game was any closer, that woulda been a huge blow