UML falls short against Ohio State

Duane Washington Jr. scored 21 points, including a key late 3-pointer, and No. 23 Ohio State rallied three times from a second-half deficit to defeat UMassLowell 74-64 on Sunday.

Washington took a pass from teammate C.J. Walker and hit a 3 from the left wing for a 70-63 lead with 1:07 left to all but clinch it for the Buckeyes (2-0). Up until that point, UMass-Lowell’s zone defense had made it difficult for the Buckeyes to get a lot of clean looks.

“I give our guys credit for finishing the game and making the necessary plays that we needed to,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “I don’t think we attacked their zone really well. I thought it slowed us down. I don’t think our pace and attack was very good. It was our first time of seeing almost 35 minutes of zone.”

Washington had made only two of his first 10 3-point shots before his critical one with just over a minute left.

“The saying is shooters shoot and you’ve still got to be confident in yourself,” Washington said. “I believed in myself. I let it fly with confidence and put it in.”

Justice Sueing had 15 points and six rebounds for Ohio State. Walker added 13 points and five assists while E.J. Liddell had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Obadiah Noel, coming off a 35-point game against Illinois State on Saturday, led UMass-Lowell (1-2) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Allin Blunt and Bryce Daley each scored 11 points.

“We had a chance to win it right down to the last minute,” UMass-Lowell coach Pat Duquette said. “That was a great spot for us to be in. But we made a couple careless mistakes in a crucial point in the game.”

The game was tied 33 at halftime after Ohio State shot just 34% from the floor and went 0 for 8 on 3s. UMass-Lowell led by as many as five points on three occasions early in the second half.

Rhode Island 84, San Francisco 71 — Fatts Russell had 21 points, going 11 for 11 from the foul line, and Rhode Island beat San Francisco.

Two days earlier San Francisco defeated fourthranked Virginia 61-60.

The Rams led the whole way, putting the lead in double figures with the last basket off the first half, a layup by Antwan Walker making it 38-28. A 12-0 run in the second half made it a 17-point lead midway through and a 10-2 run in the last three minutes iced it.

Rhode Island made 25 of 29 free throws in the second half, 34 of 40 for the game, outscoring the Dons by 24 at the foul line.

Walker had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Rhode Island (2-2) and Ishmael Leggett and Jalen Carey added 11 each.

Jamaree Bouyea had 22 points for the Dons (2-2). Dzmitry Ryuny added 19 points and 10 rebounds.