Ohio State was tested for the first time this season, and beat Notre Dame, 64-63, on Nov. 16 at Value City Arena with a game-winning shot by senior center Christoph Tilly with 12 seconds left in the game.
The Buckeyes held a six-point lead with under seven minutes to go in the game, but needed the late layup from Tilly for the win.
After Ohio State and Notre Dame each missed their first couple of shots, the Fighting Irish struck first with a three-pointer, which was immediately answered by sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. with a three of his own.
It took until 16:07 for the next points when junior forward Devin Royal knocked one down from beyond the arc, but Notre Dame would go on an 8-0 run after Royal’s shot, leading to an 11-6 score at 14:36.
The Buckeyes went on a streak of missing five straight shots from the field and had a scoring drought of 3:57 while the Irish got out to a 21-10 lead. Senior guard Bruce Thornton finally ended the drought with a short jumper at 8:53, the start of a 12-4 run for the Buckeyes that brought them within three points.
Neither team was able to take control the rest of the half, but the Fighting Irish went into the locker room with a three-point lead behind 10 points from Jalen Haralson, who came off the bench for Notre Dame.
Ohio State was shooting 9 of 25 from the field (36.0 percent) compared to Notre Dame’s 14 of 24 (58.3), with the Irish taking just four shots from beyond the arc compared to the Buckeyes’ 15.
The Irish started the second half by outscoring the Buckeyes 8-3 in the first 3:18 capped off by a three-point play from star point guard Markus Burton. Thornton answered with a three, and Sir Mohammed followed with a three-point play of his own, answered by another Thornton bucket, and later, another three for a score of 44-42.
The OSU defense stepped up over the next few minutes to force Notre Dame to go 1 of 5 from the field with a turnover, but the Buckeyes struggled as well and remained down by two points, 46-44 at 11:47.
Tilly tied the game up at 46 with two free throws 40 seconds later and gave the Buckeyes the lead at 10:12 on two more from the charity stripe. It was their first lead since there was 15:50 left in the first half. The Fighting Irish took the lead back with a three, and it was traded back and forth for a few possessions before Tilly’s three-point play gave OSU a 53-51 lead.
After taking a 59-53 lead, OSU went 2:41 without a point, allowing the Irish to tie the game back up at 4:18.
Thornton took the lead back with a three and Tilly was sent back to the line the next time down the floor, but he missed both. He made up for the misses by blocking Burton on the other side to save two points, but Burton stole the ball from Thornton and was fouled, making two foul shots for a one-point game.
Notre Dame took a 63-62 lead that lasted until Tilly’s contested layup at 12 seconds that put Ohio State in the lead, and a missed Burton three sealed the win for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State was led by Thornton, who had 24 points in the game on 8-of15 shooting while Tilly had 18 points, making 10 of 13 from the free-throw line. Devin Royal had a team-leading six rebounds.
Notre Dame was led by Burton, who had 14 points on 3-of-14 shooting with 8 of 9 free throws.
