TBT: Aaron Craft’s Game Winner Against Iowa State in the 2013 NCAA Tournament
3/21/2019 2:27:49 PM | Men's Basketball
No. 7 Ohio State 78, Iowa State 75
March 24, 2013 – Dayton, Ohio
With the game knotted at 75-all, Ohio State’s Aaron Craft made a 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds left to win the game for the Buckeyes, advancing Ohio State to the Sweet 16 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
At the half, Ohio State led 38-36 and then came out of the half and extended its lead behind hot outside shooting. The Buckeyes took a 52-46 lead on a Lenzelle Smith Jr. 3-pointer. Iowa State closed the deficit to 52-51 on a Melvin Ejim dunk before a 10-0 Buckeye run in which LaQuinton Ross scored seven-consecutive points.
Deshaun Thomas led the Buckeyes with 22 points, followed by Craft with 18 and Ross with 17. Iowa State senior point guard Korie Lucious had 19 points to lead Iowa State.
The Cyclones came out of the gates fast, scoring seven straight after an early Buckeye basket to take a 7-2 lead. A pair of seniors in Will Clyburn and Lucious got Iowa State going, as Clyburn got back-to-back buckets to get the Cyclones on the board, followed by a Lucious triple. Ohio State responded with a 12-2 run of their own over the next four minutes, started by a Sam Thompson jumper at the 16:27 mark. The Buckeyes capped the run with a steal and lay-in by Shannon Scott. Iowa State would face its largest deficit of the half at the 9:24 mark, down 22-16 before senior Anthony Booker hit a tough back shot.
Tyrus McGee then knocked down a trey, followed by a Clyburn drive to the hoop to lay it in and knot the game at 23-all. Neither team was able to separate itself from that point in the back-andforth fi rst half. Iowa State went into the intermission trailing 38-36, led by Clyburn with 11 points and three rebounds. Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas had 13 points and four rebounds in the half to lead the Buckeyes.
With the Cyclones down 69-56 on a Shannon Scott layup with 6:07 remaining, Iowa State went on a 13-0 run, started by a Melvin Ejim 3-pointer. Later a Tyrus McGee three from the corner cut the deficit to three before Lucious drove to the basket for an and-1 to tie the game at 69-all at the 3:53 mark. McGee would later give Iowa State its first lead of the half with at 72-71 on another three just 30 seconds later. With the game tied at 75, Craft held the ball for the final shot of regulation, waved off Thomas and sank the winning bucket with under a second to play.
