Matt Bradley scored 18 points to lead four San Diego State players in double figures as the No. 17 Aztecs downed Ohio State 88-77 in the quarterfinals of the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Monday.
The Aztecs (4-0) led 37-26 at the half and were up 68-52 before withstanding several challenges from Ohio State (3-1) to move to the semifinals Tuesday against the winner between No. 14 Arizona and Cincinnati, who played later Monday. The Buckeyes face the loser Tuesday.
Lamont Butler and Micah Parrish scored 15 points each and Adam Seiko had 14 for the Aztecs.
Sean McNeil scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, Brice Sensabaugh had 17 points and Bruce Thornton added 13 points for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State closed to within 80-73, but Parrish canned a 3-pointer to restore the double-digit lead. Parrish had 13 points after halftime.
McNeil single-handedly kept the Buckeyes close early in the second half. They were down 42-29 when he scored Ohio State’s next 11 points as the Buckeyes stayed close at 49-40.
Ohio State got to within 51-47 on a McNeil jumper, but the Aztecs scored eight points in 39 seconds on a pair of 3-pointers by Parrish and a layup by Aguek Arop.
The Aztecs got off to a slow start to the game but quickly overcame a 5-0 deficit with their tenacious defense. They took a 12-9 lead by limiting the Buckeyes to 2 of 12 shooting from the floor.
San Diego State twice pushed the lead to nine before Jaedon LeDee pushed it to 11 at 29-18 to cap a 7-0 run against his former team. LeDee played his freshman season at Ohio State in 2018-19 before transferring to TCU for two seasons.
LeDee made a pair of free throws to extend the margin to 15, 35-20, with 2:45 left.
Ohio State’s Zed Key was looking for his fourth straight double-double, but he picked up two early fouls and sat most of the first half. He finished with seven points and three rebounds in 21 minutes.
— Field Level Media
