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Oden, Ohio St battle Memphis for Final Four berth

Mar 24, 2007 - 1:09 PM No. 2 Memphis (33-3) at No. 1 Ohio St (33-3) 4:40 pm EDT

SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- Greg Oden and Ohio State are getting good at the great escape. But Memphis also is counting its lucky stars.

Oden and the top-seeded Buckeyes will look to continue their nail-biting run when they take on the second-seeded Tigers in the NCAA Tournament's South Region final.

The winner will advance to the Final Four to face either North Carolina or Georgetown - another battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2.

"(No. 1 vs. No. 2) is definitely going to be a good game," Memphis guard Chris Douglas-Roberts said. "We are looking forward to it because we look forward to challenges.

"All year they have been saying how overrated we were and how bad our league (Conference USA) is. We just want to come out and play an elite team, like Ohio State, and see where we are at."

With Oden - one of the most-hyped freshmen in years - the Buckeyes have not had the luxury of flying under the radar.

In its first regional final since 1999, Ohio State will be looking to seal its 10th trip to college basketball's biggest stage. If the Buckeyes make it to Atlanta, they will join national powers North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and UCLA as the only programs with double-digit Final Four appearances.

However, Ohio State's path to the regional final has not been easy. Ron Lewis saved the Buckeyes' season by hitting a dramatic 3-pointer with two seconds left against Xavier in the second round, forcing an overtime session that they dominated.

Ohio State's next victory was just as exciting as it rallied from a 20-point deficit to overcome fifth-seeded Tennessee, 85-84, on Thursday.

Oden, who was in foul trouble for much of the contest, came up big when he was in on the game's final possession.

He blocked a layup attempt by freshman Ramar Smith at the buzzer to seal the Buckeyes' 20th straight victory - the nation's second-longest winning streak. But Ohio State knows it has no room to rest on its laurels.

"It's a sense of urgency. There's no room for error now," freshman guard Mike Conley Jr. said. "You have to pay attention in every scouting session and every time we watch film. There's no time for people to mess up right now."

The Buckeyes will look to extend their run when they take on the Tigers, who own the nation's longest winning streak at 25 games. But Memphis was just as fortunate to make it this far, posting a 65-64 victory over third-seeded Texas A&M in the South Region's other semifinal.

The Tigers were aided by an uncharacteristic gaffe by Aggies star Acie Law IV, who missed an easy layup which would have given his squad a three-point lead with 47 seconds left.

With a chance for the victory, Memphis had three shots to win it on the final possession, before Antonio Anderson was fouled getting a rebound. Anderson hit two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to secure the victory.

Conley admitted that Anderson's free throws helped Ohio State breathe a sigh of relief or at least gave them a better shot at victory on Saturday.

"We didn't really want to have to face Texas A&M, basically in their backyard," Conley said. "It would have been a tough game, but it speaks volumes about them (Memphis) being able to come in and beat Texas A&M in almost like a homecourt advantage type deal.

"Memphis is a really tough team and we saw that yesterday (Thursday) with them beating Texas A&M, so at the same time we're kind of happy, we know that Memphis is a really tough team."

After advancing to the regional final for the second straight year, the Tigers are looking for their first appearance in the Final Four since 1985.