Keyshawn Woods scored seven of his 19 points in the final 3:13, including the go-ahead jumper in the lane, to lift No. 11 seed Ohio State to a 62-59 victory over No. 6 Iowa State on Friday night in the first round of the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament in Tulsa, Okla. Kaleb Wesson led the Buckeyes (20-14) with 21 points, including 15 in the second half, and pulled down 12 rebounds. The Buckeyes advanced to face No. 3 seed Houston (32-3) in the second round on Sunday. After a lackluster offensive first half, which Ohio State led 26-24, each team shot the ball much better in the second half and began trading baskets. When Lindell Wigginton made a fallaway 3-pointer from the left corner and was fouled, his four-point play moved Iowa State within 44-42 with 11:41 left. Wesson caught fire, scoring 11 of Ohio State’s first 21 points of the second half. When his brother, Andre Wesson, hit an uncontested dunk one possession later, the Buckeyes led 49-42, their biggest lead of the second half. Iowa State responded with six straight to cut the deficit to 49-48. Kaleb Wesson muscled down an offensive rebound and was fouled, making both foul shots to put Ohio State up 53-50 with 4:35 left. Marial Shayok led Iowa State with a game-high 23 points, and his 17-foot jumper put the Cyclones in front for the last time, 54-53, with 3:40 left. That’s when Woods took over. His lane jumper gave Ohio State the lead for good, 55-54, with 3:13 remaining, and he followed that with a 3-pointer from the left corner. Iowa State closed within 60-59 on Wigginton’s 3-pointer with 20.8 seconds left, but Woods made two free throws with 18.7 second remaining to give Ohio State its final margin. Nick Weiler-Babb missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds. Both teams shot poorly in the first half. Iowa State was 8 of 27 from the floor (29.6 percent), while the Buckeyes were only slightly better on 10-of-28 shooting (35.7 percent). Iowa State missed 14 of its last 15 shots in the first half. Iowa State’s Shayok was the only player who could find the range for either team in the first half, scoring 13 of his team’s 24 points, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State’s 6-9 sophomore forward, kept the Buckeyes in front with six points and six rebounds in the first half. –Field Level Media
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