The 2011–12 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

during the

2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2011, with the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and ended with the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 2, 2012, at the Mer ...

. Their head coach is

Thad Matta Thad Michael Matta (born July 11, 1967) is an American college basketball coach who is currently in his second stint as head coach of the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team, having been head coach of the Bulldogs for the 2000–01 season. Fro ...

, in his 8th season with the Buckeyes. The team plays its home games at

Value City Arena Value City Arena is a multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The arena opened in 1998 and is currently the largest by seating capacity in the Big Ten Conference, with 19,049 seats, ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, and is a member of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. The team clinched a share of the Big Ten regular season championship for the third year in the row with a 13–5 conference record, sharing it with

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

. In the postseason, the team was invited to the

2012 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament The 2012 Big Ten men's basketball tournament was held from March 8 through March 11 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. This was the first tournament to feature 12 teams of the expanded Big Ten, with 2011–12 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's ...

, where they beat Purdue and Michigan before losing to Michigan State in the championship, and they also were invited to the

2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2011-12 ...

, where they beat Loyola, Gonzaga, Cincinnati, and an upset of Syracuse before losing to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in the Final Four to finish the season with 31–8 in overall record.

Pre-season

Previous season

Ohio State, led by experienced seniors and player of the year candidate

Jared Sullinger Jared Malcolm Xavier Sullinger (born March 4, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketbal ...

, started the season 24–0. The Buckeyes were ranked No. 1 for six weeks during the regular season, as well as entering postseason play, and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament with an overall regular season record of 29–2 along with a Big Ten tournament championship. After defeating UT–San Antonio and George Mason in the first two rounds of the tournament, Ohio State fell to the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

, who would eventually go on to the Final Four, 62–60, ending their season in the Sweet Sixteen for the second year in a row.

Departures

* No. 10 Eddie Days – G * No. 23 David Lighty – G/F * No. 24 Nikola Kecman – F * No. 33 Jon Diebler – G * No. 52 Dallas Lauderdale – F

2011 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule

, - !colspan=12, Exhibition , - !colspan=12, Regular season , - !colspan=12, Big Ten Regular Season , - !colspan=12, Big Ten tournament , - !colspan=12, NCAA tournament

Rankings

References

Ohio State Buckeyes basketball
{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball seasons

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...