Ohio hopes to keep defying odds

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Ohio coach John Groce majored in math and taught it in high school and likes to use numbers when he’s preparing his team or analyzing opponents.

So how do the Bobcats explain this:

They lost 14 games in the regular season, finishing worse than .500 in the midmajor Mid-America Conference to earn a No. 14 seed in the NCAA tournament.

They then knocked off third-seeded Georgetown – the biggest upset in a first day full of them – by, you guessed it, 14 points.

“I think that’s why you come to a midmajor school: the challenge of getting into the tournament. And then to win, to advance in a tournament, is another big thing,” Ohio guard Armon Bassett said Friday. “I think people are starting to like us and starting to follow us. But we’ve just got to keep a level head, a narrow path and stay humble.

“And keep trying to string these W’s together.”

Ohio, which was only the ninth seed in its conference tournament, knocked off No. 3 NCAA seed Georgetown 97-83 on Thursday night. With a victory over sixth-seeded Tennessee (26-8) today, the Bobcats (22-14) would become just the third No. 14 seed to advance to the round of 16 since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

“It’s always something you have to worry about when you play somebody seeded lower than you, that they’ll come in with a chip on their shoulder,” Vols guard Melvin Goins said. “But we have a chip on our shoulders, too.”

Cleveland State in 1986 and Chattanooga in ’97 are the only No. 14 seeds to reach the regional semifinals, and it’s never been done by a No. 15 or No. 16 seed.