© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Ohio State basketball team lost its NCAA Tournament opener to TCU, 66-64. The game came down to the wire with the Buckeyes having a chance to win on the final shot.
An awful final play prevented them from getting a good look. Jake Diebler admitted that he thought they had an extra timeout when drawing it up.
Ohio State entered as a slight favorite against the Horned Frogs as an 8-seed. They fell behind early by double digits before battling back to take a second half lead.
The score was tied on TCU’s final possession. They’d go up by two on a layup with four seconds left to play. Ohio State called timeout to draw up a response.
Ohio State’s basketball game is over.
FROGS OUT FRONT 🔥#MarchMadness @TCUBasketball pic.twitter.com/7zUjY9gv0q
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2026
The Buckeyes called their final timeout after the basket. You can see one timeout showing on the scorebug in the clip posted above.
You can see there are no timeouts showing under the Ohio State logo in the video below.
BUZZER SOUNDS. TCU GETS THE FIRST WIN OF #MarchMadness 🙌 @TCUBasketball pic.twitter.com/q7zFXi6HNd
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2026
There is some speculation as to whether referees awarded the timeout to Ohio State or called a game stoppage for a review. There were 0.2 seconds added to the clock. From the information available, the Buckeyes appeared out of stoppages.
Those facts: (1) There were no timeouts shown on the scorebug. (2) The CBS Sports play-by-play ticker shows Ohio State using their final timeout with four seconds left on the clock.
Jake Diebler believed they had one left.
The head coach admitted it after the game.
On the final play, Jake Diebler said OSU wanted to give the ball to Bruce Thornton on the run and give him passing outlets, a shot or the chance to call a timeout across half-court on the play
“We were trying to get it to him on the run and give him freedom to make a decision.”
— Andy Anders (@AndyAnders55) March 19, 2026
Diebler drew up the failed final play with the option of calling a timeout at midcourt. He did not have a timeout to call. Had that been the final result, it would’ve resulted in a technical foul to effectively end the game.
At the end of the day, a timeout was not called. The last shot wasn’t a much better option as there was little separation on a half-court heave.
Still, had Diebler been aware of the timeout situation, it might’ve played into his decision making on the last possession. He’s catching flak for his admission after the fact.