The Ohio Bobcats the Cleveland State Vikings 46-23 when CSU’s Torrey Patton made a layup with 1:41 remaining in the first half to cut into Ohio’s lead.
Those would be the last Cleveland State points scored for nearly 13 minutes of game time, as Ohio put up a 40-0 run that set an NCAA record for men’s basketball.
— No Context College Basketball (@ContextFreeCBB) December 7, 2020
From the AP report:
Ohio went on a 40-0 scoring run, spanning halftime, to set a NCAA record for a game involving two Division I men’s basketball teams, and the Bobcats beat Cleveland State 101-46 on Sunday.
Lunden McDay closed the first half with a 3-pointer as Ohio scored the final five points for a 51-25 lead. Ohio then opened the second half by scoring the first 35 points — with 3-pointers from four different players.
Cleveland State missed 17 straight shots during the run. The Vikings ended their scoring drought on a free throw with 8:03 left, and didn’t make its first field goal of the second half until the 5:10 mark.
According to the NCAA record book, Oklahoma scored 39-straight points in a first-half run against Weber State on December 22, 2014.
That the field goal drought lasted fifteen minutes is just absurd. Cleveland State isn’t projected to be good, of course; they sit at 245 in the KenPom rankings, while Ohio checks in at a very respectable 102. But today, for that stretch of basketball, the Vikings just had no answers on the offensive end of the floor.
If you’ve played pickup basketball you know that feeling; especially if you find yourself somehow up against a team that clearly outmatches who you’re playing with. The difference is, of course, that the game doesn’t keep going. It ends, mercifully, whenever the point total is reached, and you can regroup or pick a different court. Cleveland State just had to keep trying, and failing, possession after possession.
The good news: it’s probably not going to be that bad again!
[ESPN; image via @contextfreeCBB]
About Jay Rigdon
Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.