PITTSBURGH (WCMH) -- The No. 7 seed Ohio State Buckeyes and No. 2 seed Villanova Wildcats will meet in Pittsburgh at 2:40pm in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The winner of this second round clash will meet the No. 11 seed Michigan Wolverines in the South region semifinals in San Antonio on Thursday. The time of the game is yet to be determined.
Villanova has made six of its last seven shots in a five-minute span. Wildcats are shooting 61% from the field compared to 31% by OSU.
Villanova's leading scorer this season, Collin Gillespie, has scored 10-straight points and the Wildcats lead OSU 17-7. Ohio State is shooting 2-of-10 from the field with three turnovers.
At the first media timeout, Ohio State trails Villanova 7-3. The Buckeyes have started slow once again offensively with one basket on seven attempts.
An upset win for Ohio State would send the Buckeyes to its first Sweet 16 since 2013 and a meeting with its biggest rivals in the Wolverines.
OSU reached the second round after a low-scoring 54-41 win over Loyola Chicago.
That strong defensive performance for the Buckeyes was historic as the fourth best defensive outing in the program's tournament history.
Star forward E.J. Liddell registered his ninth double-double of the season in the win Friday with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Basketball powerhouse Villanova is hoping to beat the Buckeyes and make the program's fourth Sweet 16 since 2016.
Villanova cruised past Delaware 80-60 in the first round with the Wildcats burying 13 three-pointers, a typical clip for the 14th-best three-point shooting team in the country.
The Wildcats have four players who average double digits in scoring with three of those players shooting 40% or better from three-point range.
