Second Round: UT–San Antonio Ohio State began the 2011 NCAA tournament bid with a commanding 75–46 win of the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners. The Buckeyes were contested early however took control of the game halfway through the first half. Leading 37–21 at halftime, the Buckeyes opened their lead and moved on to the third round of the tournament where they faced the George Mason Patriots.
Third round: George Mason The third round showcased a match up between the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes and #8 George Mason Patriots. George Mason opened the game on an 11–2 run and quickly took the momentum. However, the overall seed in Ohio State would not back down. Led by senior
David Lighty and
Jon Diebler, the Buckeyes quickly went on a run to end the first half of play with a 52–26 lead. The pounding by the Buckeyes continued as they worked the ball around to their star freshmen in
Jared Sullinger and
Aaron Craft. Ending the game as they had in the first half, Ohio State continued to cruise through and went on to win the game 98–66 in front of biased crowd in
Cleveland, Ohio.
Regional semifinal: Kentucky The Buckeyes reached the Sweet Sixteen for the second year in a row and for the second year they faced an
SEC opponent. Ohio State and Kentucky both began the game struggling to shoot and to get any sort of momentum going with both teams tied at 30 heading into the second half. The second half remained an extremely close affair with neither team really able to pull away. In the final second of the game Kentucky was able to put together a game winning shot and put the Wildcats ahead 62–60, which would be the final score in the game. This loss ended the season for the Buckeyes, and for the second year in a row, Ohio State fell in the Sweet Sixteen. ==Rankings==