# 2012–13 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

The 2012–13 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University in the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Thad Matta, in his ninth season with the Buckeyes. The team played its home games at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. They finished with a record of 29–8 overall, 13–5 in Big Ten play for a second place tie with Michigan State. They won the 2013 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament and received an automatic bid in the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, where they were defeated by Wichita State in the Elite Eight.

## Before the season
### Previous season

The Ohio State Buckeyes began the 2011–12 season ranked #3 in the nation and would go on to an 8–0 start to the season, with their first loss coming at Allen Fieldhouse against the Kansas Jayhawks. Ohio State remained in the top three through the first two months of the season, until they lost their first conference game of the season on December 31 against the Indiana Hoosiers. Ohio State went 13–5 through Big Ten play and ended the season with a 25–6 record and won a share of the Big Ten regular season championship, sharing it with Michigan State and Michigan. Ohio State would end up losing in the championship game of the Big Ten tournament and enter the NCAA tournament as a #2 seed. Ohio State would go on to defeat Syracuse in the Elite Eight en route to the program's eleventh Final Four appearance. Ohio State lost to the Kansas Jayhawks in the Final Four and ended the season with a 31–8 record and #3 ranking. After the season, Jared Sullinger declared for the NBA draft after his sophomore season, while Deshaun Thomas decided to return for his junior season.

### Departures

| Name | Position | Reason |
| William Buford | Guard | Graduation |
| Jordan Sibert | Guard | Transfer to Dayton |
| Jared Sullinger | Forward | Entered NBA draft |
| J.D. Weatherspoon | Forward | Transfer to Toledo |

### Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Amedeo Della Valle PG | Henderson, Nevada | Findlay Prep | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Apr 21, 2012 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Ohio State 2012 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 1, 2012. "Ohio State Buckeyes 2012 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 1, 2012. "2012 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 1, 2012. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 30* 7:00 pm | No. 4 | Walsh | W 83–71 | – | Value City Arena (13,474) Columbus, OH |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 11* 2:00 pm | No. 4 | Albany Hall of Fame Tip Off | W 82–60 | 1–0 | Value City Arena (13,497) Columbus, OH |
| November 17* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 4 | vs. Rhode Island Hall of Fame Tip Off Semifinals | W 69–58 | 2–0 | Mohegan Sun Arena (N/A) Uncasville, CT |
| November 18* 4:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 4 | vs. Washington Hall of Fame Tip Off Championship | W 77–66 | 3–0 | Mohegan Sun Arena (N/A) Uncasville, CT |
| November 23* 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 3 | UMKC | W 91–45 | 4–0 | Value City Arena (17,478) Columbus, OH |
| November 28* 9:30 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | at No. 2 Duke ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 68–73 | 4–1 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| December 1* 4:30 pm, BTN | No. 3 | Northern Kentucky | W 70–43 | 5–1 | Value City Arena (16,548) Columbus, OH |
| December 8* 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 7 | Long Beach State | W 89–55 | 6–1 | Value City Arena (14,832) Columbus, OH |
| December 12* 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 7 | Savannah State | W 85–45 | 7–1 | Value City Arena (13,848) Columbus, OH |
| December 15* 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 7 | UNC Asheville | W 90–72 | 8–1 | Value City Arena (15,041) Columbus, OH |
| December 18* 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 7 | Winthrop | W 65–55 | 9–1 | Value City Arena (13,707) Columbus, OH |
| December 22* 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 7 | No. 9 Kansas | L 66–74 | 9–2 | Value City Arena (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| December 29* 4:30 pm, BTN | No. 10 | Chicago State | W 87–44 | 10–2 | Value City Arena (16,881) Columbus, OH |
| January 2 6:30 pm, BTN | No. 8 | Nebraska | W 70–44 | 11–2 (1–0) | Value City Arena (15,900) Columbus, OH |
| January 5 2:15 pm, BTN | No. 8 | at No. 11 Illinois | L 55–74 | 11–3 (1–1) | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| January 8 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 15 | at Purdue | W 74–64 | 12–3 (2–1) | Mackey Arena (14,642) West Lafayette, IN |
| January 13 1:30 pm, CBS | No. 15 | No. 2 Michigan | W 56–53 | 13–3 (3–1) | Value City Arena (18,809) Columbus, OH |
| January 19 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 11 | at No. 18 Michigan State | L 56–59 | 13–4 (3–2) | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| January 22 6:30 pm, BTN | No. 14 | Iowa | W 72–63 | 14–4 (4–2) | Value City Arena (16,040) Columbus, OH |
| January 26 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 14 | at Penn State | W 65–51 | 15–4 (5–2) | Bryce Jordan Center (11,212) University Park, PA |
| January 29 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 11 | Wisconsin | W 58–49 | 16–4 (6–2) | Value City Arena (16,911) Columbus, OH |
| February 2 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 11 | at Nebraska | W 63–56 | 17–4 (7–2) | Bob Devaney Sports Center (11,478) Lincoln, NE |
| February 5 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 10 | at No. 3 Michigan | L 74–76 $^{OT}$ | 17–5 (7–3) | Crisler Center (12,693) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 10 1:00 pm, CBS | No. 10 | No. 1 Indiana | L 68–81 | 17–6 (7–4) | Value City Arena (18,809) Columbus, OH |
| February 14 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 13 | Northwestern | W 69–59 | 18–6 (8–4) | Value City Arena (15,842) Columbus, OH |
| February 17 1:00 pm, CBS | No. 13 | at No. 20 Wisconsin | L 49–71 | 18–7 (8–5) | Kohl Center (17,249) Madison, WI |
| February 20 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 18 | Minnesota | W 71–45 | 19–7 (9–5) | Value City Arena (16,378) Columbus, OH |
| February 24 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 18 | No. 4 Michigan State | W 68–60 | 20–7 (10–5) | Value City Arena (18,809) Columbus, OH |
| February 28 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 16 | at Northwestern | W 63–53 | 21–7 (11–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,036) Evanston, IL |
| March 5 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 14 | at No. 2 Indiana | W 67–58 | 22–7 (12–5) | Assembly Hall (17,472) Bloomington, IN |
| March 10 12:30 pm, ESPN | No. 14 | Illinois | W 68–55 | 23–7 (13–5) | Value City Arena (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| March 15 6:30 pm, BTN | No. 10 | vs. Nebraska Quarterfinals | W 71–50 | 24–7 | United Center (21,229) Chicago, IL |
| March 16 4:18 pm, CBS | No. 10 | vs. No. 8 Michigan State Semifinals | W 61–58 | 25–7 | United Center (21,824) Chicago, IL |
| March 17 3:30 pm, CBS | No. 10 | vs. No. 22 Wisconsin Championship | W 50–43 | 26–7 | United Center (20,560) Chicago, IL |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 22* 7:15 pm, CBS | No. 7 (2 W) | vs. (15 W) Iona Second Round | W 95–70 | 27–7 | University of Dayton Arena (12,495) Dayton, OH |
| March 24* 12:15 pm, CBS | No. 7 (2 W) | vs. (10 W) Iowa State Third Round | W 78–75 | 28–7 | University of Dayton Arena (12,495) Dayton, OH |
| March 28* 7:47 pm, TBS | No. 7 (2 W) | vs. No. 21 (6 W) Arizona Sweet Sixteen | W 73–70 | 29–7 | Staples Center (18,232) Los Angeles, CA |
| March 30* 7:10 pm, CBS | No. 7 (2 W) | vs. (9 W) Wichita State Elite Eight | L 66–70 | 29–8 | Staples Center (17,998) Los Angeles, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time (#) during NCAA Tournament is Seed with Region W=West. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received votes |