There’s just something about beating the No. 1-ranked team in college basketball

The Ohio State Buckeyes have always been a football school. Once every so often, though, the Bucks play so well on the basketball court that it’s almost as if they are a basketball school, too, at least during basketball season.

One of those occurrences happened Tuesday night when Ohio State made a huge second-half comeback to beat the No. 1-ranked Duke Blue Devils, 71-66. Trailing by 13 at halftime and by as many as 15 in the second half, the Buckeyes were having trouble making free throws and three-pointers and turning the ball over too much.

Then, midway through the second half, something clicked on both ends of the floor. In a game filled with plenty of five-star recruits and a potential top-five pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, all of whom were donning a Duke jersey, E.J. Liddell proved that he was the best player on the court, totaling 14 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, and three blocks in the win. Zed Key also did some work in the paint with a career-high 20 points. Cedric Russell, who had just three points all season, finished with 12 points, including six points during a key 12-0 run by Ohio State to seal the comeback win.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1465903586286596101

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1465905859402240002

In all, it was a fantastic win for Ohio State, especially given the way that it happened. At 5-2, hopefully, it’s the type of win that will give the Buckeyes some momentum and something they can lean on the rest of the season.

It’s not the first time they have beaten the No. 1 team in the country, either. In fact, it’s been quite a tradition to do so for the Buckeyes. In their storied history, Ohio State is 10-12 against top-ranked opponents, including winning eight of their last 11 games against the No. 1-ranked team in college basketball:

• February 20, 1965: L at Michigan, 100-61
• March 8, 1965: W vs. Michigan, 93-85
• December 3, 1965: L at UCLA, 92-66
• March 23, 1968: W vs. Houston, 89-85
• December 6, 1968: L vs. UCLA, 84-73
• December 30, 1971: L at UCLA, 79-53
• February 1, 1975: L vs. Indiana, 72-66
• March 2, 1975: L at Indiana, 86-78
• January 3, 1976: L vs. Indiana, 66-64
• March 6, 1976: L at Indiana, 96-67
• December 29, 1978: W vs. Duke, 90-84
• January 8, 1983: W vs. Indiana, 70-67
• January 24, 1987: W at Iowa, 80-76
• February 23, 1993: W vs. Indiana, 81-77
• January 5, 2005: L at Illinois, 84-65
• March 6, 2005: W vs. Illinois, 65-64
• February 25, 2007: W vs. Wisconsin, 49-48
• November 28, 2007: L vs. North Carolina, 66-55
• February 10, 2013: L vs. Indiana, 81-68
• January 7, 2018: W vs. Michigan State, 80-64
• November 30, 2021: W vs. Duke, 71-66

Ohio State has won 8 of its last 11 games against AP No. 1 teams, and improves to 2-0 against Duke as the AP No. 1 team (won in Dec. 1978). pic.twitter.com/bnmS31QnPI

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 1, 2021

With their win over Duke on Tuesday night, Ohio State has won eight of their last 11 games against No. 1-ranked teams means that they have a .727 winning percentage against the top-ranked team in the country in that span. To put that in perspective, the Buckeyes win percentage since the start of the 1978 season, when that streak began, is .614. So, Ohio State has had a better shot of beat beating the best team in the country, at least in the rankings, than they in an average game. That’s crazy.

Oh, and the Buckeyes now have the most wins over the No. 1-ranked team as an unranked team in the history of college basketball, too. Not bad.

Most wins vs. AP No. 1 as unranked team, all time:

8, Ohio State
7, Maryland
6, Florida State, Georgia Tech, UCLA & Vanderbilt pic.twitter.com/3dcE7cKDMY

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) December 1, 2021

Sorry, Coach K, your Farewell Tour will forever have an ‘L’ on the schedule next to that trip to Ohio State.

CHAOS.#Team123 #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/Y4PCKHTDIB

— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) December 1, 2021

Down goes No. 1!

Go crazy, @OhioStateHoops fans. pic.twitter.com/0TOF8jReDW

— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) December 1, 2021