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30.7%. That was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ shooting percentage in Game #1 @ Boston. This should be the recipe for a blowout, but the Cavs had a chance at the end only to fall to Boston 76-72, giving the Celtics a 1-0 series lead. While Cleveland Cavs merchandise has been a hot seller due to their 4-2 series win in the 1st round over Washington, but the Cavaliers will need to improve on their poor shooting if they want to defeat the Celtics, especially in Boston. LeBron James will have to lead that improvement after having possibly the worst offensive game of his career in shooting 2-19 from the floor and 0-6 from the 3-point line with 10 turnovers. LeBron did play well defensively, holding Paul Pierce in check and in grabbing 9 rebounds and 9 assists, but it was not a typical game for “King James.” Even Kevin Garnett, a player not know as being “clutch,” added two big baskets in the 4th quarter as he scored 28 points in leading the Celtics to the win.

Game #2 will be played on Thursday night @ 7 pm ET in Boston as Cleveland will look to even the series.

LeBron James gets the headlines, but as the Cleveland Cavaliers closed out the Washington Wizards tonight, we can’t just give LeBron the credit. While James scored a triple-double with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists, it was the outside shooting of Wally Szczerbiak and Daniel Gibson that helped LeBron reach the triple-double and helped lead the Cavs to a 105-88 win in Game #6. Szczerbiak and Gibson combined to shoot 18-32 from the field, 10-19 from beyond the arc, and score a combined 48 points for Cleveland as Wally nailed 6 3-pointers and Gibson hit 4. Only Zydrunas Ilgauskas joined James, Gibson and Szczerbiak in double figured as “Z” added 12 points in 32 minutes.

LeBron played a game that even Skip Bayless would have a hard time criticizing as he shot 8-17 overall, 1-2 from 3-point range, 10-10 from the free throw line and had a playoff career-high with the 13 assists. The triple-double marked the 20th of LeBron’s career and 3rd career playoff triple-double.

> Get Cleveland Cavs playoff merchandise online through DFN Sports.

With the win, Cleveland advances to the Eastern Conference Semifinals where they will face the winner of #1 Boston and #8 Atlanta who will meet in Boston on Sunday in Game #7 of their series. Should the favored Celtics win on Sunday, Cleveland will likely play Game #1 on Tuesday night in Boston. Should the underdog Atlanta Hawks win in Boston on Sunday, Cleveland would host Atlanta on Tuesday night in Game #1 of the semifinals.

The first-ever Ohio College Basketball Tournament tips off with #4 Dayton hosting #13 Youngstown State as the Flyers waste no time jumping out to a early 11-3 lead and cruise to a 77-59 victory. Brian Roberts dominates the game scoring 21 points and ties his season-high with 7 assists while YSU’s John Barber scores 18 points with 10 rebounds but cannot keep his team in the game. #4 Dayton will face the winner of #5 Akron vs. #12 Bowling Green in the second round of the Ohio College Basketball Tournament. Keep checking back here at Ohio Sports Time for updates.

The opening round of the 2008 Ohio college basketball tournament is here as we give you the match-ups of Ohio Sports Time’s simulated tournament.

First round byes go to the Top 3 seeds, #1 Xavier, #2 Kent State and #3 Ohio State. First round matchups will be:

• #4 Dayton hosting #13 Yougstown State
• #5 Akron hosting #12 Bowling Green
• #6 Cleveland State hosting #11 Toledo
• #7 Miami hosting #10 Wright State
• #8 Ohio hosting #9 Cincinnati

The Xavier Musketeers started fast and have taken a 32-25 lead over West Virginia into the half of their Sweet 16 matchup. Xavier has led by as many as 18 in the first half as the Musketeers have four players with atleast 6 points in the game thus far. Two quick fouls on WVU’s Joe Alexander have held the Mountaineers’ star player to just 3 first half points.

The winner of this game will face the winner of #1 UCLA vs. #12 Western Kentucky in the Elite 8 matchup on Saturday.

In the spirit of the 2008 college basketball postseason, Ohio Sports Time decided to offer our own postseason tournament. This marks the first-ever Ohio College Basketball Tournament as we simulate a 13-team, single-elimination tournament. Higher seeds will host the lower seeds in first round games with the quarterfinals and semifinals to be played at the home of Ohio’s lone professional basketball team, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Over the next few days we will release the results of each of the games based on the Ohio Sports Time staff’s knowledge of Ohio basketball. Feel free to use the comment feature on our blog to voice your opinions.

The seeding for the 2008 Ohio College Basketball Tournament will be:
#1 - Xavier - Easily the #1 seed based on regular season and postseason results.
#2 - Kent State - Despite their first half collapse in the NCAA Tournament’s first round, Kent State’s overall resume earns the Golden Flashes the #2 seed in the state of Ohio.
#3 - Ohio State - Coming into the NIT, OSU would likely have been below the Flyers, but after defeating Dayton in the NIT the Buckeyes take the #3 seed and the valuable first round bye.
#4 - Dayton - The Flyers looked like a NCAA-worthy team in winning @ Illinois State in the NIT, but could not handle Ohio State’s second half surge in Columbus, dropping them to #4.
#5 - Akron - The Zips got a tough draw in the NIT as they won @ Florida State before falling to UMass, a NIT Final Four team.
#6 - Cleveland State - Gary Waters has turned the Vikings around as CSU is now a relevant contender in the state of Ohio after a 21-13 season.
#7 - Miami - Despite Miami’s recent coaching changes, the RedHawks were solid once again in MAC play and in the MAC Tournament in 2008. A CBI first round loss @ Tulsa does not look so bad considering Tulsa has advanced to the CBI Championship Series and the RedHawks were without leading scorer Michael Bramos. Since this is a simulation, we will assume Bramos is healthy for our tournament.
#8 - Ohio - The Bobcats were a disappointment in 2008 as Tim O’Shea’s club finished at 20-13 after a CBI second round meltdown @ Bradley.
#9 - Cincinnati - The Bearcats have some impressive wins as well as head-scratching losses in 2008. If this were only RPI-based, UC would be seeded below Wright State, but Ohio Sports Time feels the Bearcats should get the edge over Wright State for the #9 spot.
#10 - Wright State - The Raiders had an impressive season going 21-10, but Wright State lost four of their final five games. As a result, the Bearcats edge the Raiders for the #10 spot in the 2008 Ohio College Basketball Tournament.
#11 - Toledo - The Rockets ended the season with wins in three of four games and their MAC Tournament win over Bowling Green gives Toledo the nod for the #11 seed over BG.
#12 - Bowling Green - Louis Orr has the Falcons headed in the right direction as BG defeated Kent State, Miami and Ohio at home and defeated Cincinnati this season. Expect to see Bowling Green improve on their #12 seed in the next few seasons.
#13 - Youngstown State - 2008 was not kind to YSU basketball as the Penguins were 0-12 against teams in the RPI Top 100, and the state of Ohio featured nine Top 100 teams.

After trailing 31-30 at the half and watching the Dayton Flyers agressively out-rebound his Buckeyes, OSU coach Thad Matta must have given his team one heck of a halftime speech. The Buckeyes came out on fire as they outscored the Flyers 44-32 in the second half and led by as many as 18 in the second half as they cruised to a 74-63 victory. With the win, #1 Ohio State will face #2 Mississippi in the NIT Final Four at Madison Square Garden on April 1st.

ESPN has called this the “Battle of the Buckeye State” as the #1 seed Ohio State Buckeyes trail the #3 seed Dayton Flyers 31-30 at the half. Brian Roberts has 11 points and three 3-pointers to lead Dayton at the half in what has been quite a physical game so far. The Buckeyes are led by Jamar Butler’s 6 assists and Kosta Koufos with 9 points, but fouls have become an issue already. While Dayton has been whistled for 10 fouls to Ohio State’s 7, Othello Hunter had 3 first-half fouls for Ohio State and Koufos had two while Dayton has four different players with two fouls.

Find Dayton Flyers hats and Ohio State clothing & apparel from College Sports Fans and merchandise for all Ohio teams online through Ohio Sports Time.

When the NIT brackets were released, this was the game I was hoping for. #1 seed Ohio State vs. #3 Dayton with the winner advancing to the NIT Final Four in Madison Square Gardens. Two teams thought to be on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament selection committee have proved that they are taking the consolation prize, the NIT, seriously.

On Wednesday night @ 9 pm the Buckeyes will host the Flyers with the game to be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN 360. Ohio State comes in with a record of 21-13 and NIT wins at home over UNC-Asheville and California. Dayton enters the game at 23-10 after a home win over Cleveland State and a tough road win @ Illinois State.

OSU/Dayton Prediction: Despite Thad Matta’s strong coaching and motivation, the Flyers “want it more” than the Buckeyes. Few times do Ohio teams get to play the Buckeyes as Ohio State does not favor scheduling games in-state, and this game presents an opportunity for Dayton to prove that Ohio State is not the only school in the state with a strong sports program. The Flyers’ fan base will expand greatly as the die-hard fans of OU, Miami, BG, Akron, Kent, Cleveland State, Toledo & more will become Dayton fans for a night. Look for Dayton to join Xavier as the only teams from the state of Ohio alive in 2008 Division I college basketball postseason play.  

As the top-seeded team not from a “major” conference, Xavier had a lot to live up to in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The Musketeers surely have not forgotten their near-upset of Ohio State in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, a game that saw Xavier blow a lead late and fall in overtime. It appears this team has learned a lot from that experience as in two game in this year’s Big Dance, the Musketeers have not been rattled despite adversity. After watching Purdue erase a 10-point deficit and take a 61-60 lead late in their game today, Sean Miller’s Xavier team responded to the challenge and held on for a 85-78 victory.

With the win, Xavier (29-6) advances to the Sweet 16 and will face #7 West Virginia who upset #2 Duke 73-67 earlier in the day.

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