CHRIS HOLTMANN

Ohio State has removed the interim tag from men’s basketball coach Jake Diebler’s title and announced he will receive a five-year contract.

Ohio State has stunned No. 2 Purdue in its interim coach’s debut, winning 73-69 a day after the NCAA Tournament selection committee picked the Boilermakers as the early favorite to be the No. 1 overall seed during March Madness.

Ohio State has fired seventh-year basketball coach Chris Holtmann with the Buckeyes in the middle of another subpar season.

Ohio State plans to hike Ryan Day’s annual salary to $9.5 million as part of a two-year contract extension that will put him among the nation’s highest-paid college football coaches.

Mike Krzyzewski won his first NCAA Tournament game as Duke’s coach in 1985 and his 98th on Friday night.

DeVante’ Jones scored 21 points and Michigan rallied in the second half, wrapping up its up-and-down Big Ten regular season by beating No. 23 Ohio State 75-69.

Jaden Ivey hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left and No. 6 Purdue fended off a late charge from No. 16 Ohio State for an 81-78 victory.

Zed Key scored a career-high 20 points and Ohio State held top-ranked Duke scoreless for the final 4 1/2 minutes, completing a rally from a 15-point second-half deficit to beat the Blue Devils 71-66.

Zed Key saved No. 17 Ohio State from a season-opening embarrassment on Tuesday night, catching a sharp pass from freshman Malachi Branham in the paint and laying in a buzzer-beater to give the Buckeyes a 67-66 win over Akron.

Big Ten basketball entered a whole new world when it returned to Indianapolis for the first of two media days.

Liddell received following the Buckeyes' NCAA Tournament loss on Friday. The Atlantic Coast Conference’s down year now includes a bumpy start to the NCAA Tournament. The league got seven bids, but four of those teams – ACC Tournament champion Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Clemson and North Carolina – lost in Friday’s first round. We had a lot of good teams.”BRACKET BUSTERSAny fan holding an unblemished NCAA Tournament bracket has reason to brag. Appleby was hit by an inadvertent elbow early in the second half while playing defense against Virginia Tech.

The best COVID-19 vaccine shots in America just might be the two that went into Sister Jean’s arm. The breakout star and model for the most coveted bobblehead of the 2018 NCAA Tournament is now eight months beyond her 101st birthday and still serving as chaplain for the Loyola Chicago basketball team. 1 seed Illinois, is bound to provide a much stiffer test of Sister Jean’s faith. AdYet her celebratory fist bump at the buzzer was one of the signature moments of the first full day of an NCAA Tournament canceled a year ago due the pandemic. 8 North Carolina hardly qualified as an upset, unless you count Tar Heels coach Roy Williams’ first-ever loss in a tournament opener.

Michigan State forward Gabe Brown celebrates the team's 71-67 win over Ohio State in an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, in East Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)EAST LANSING, Mich. – Aaron Henry had 18 points to help Michigan State improve its chances of making the NCAA Tournament with a 71-67 win over No. Michigan State was coming off an 81-72 win over No. The Buckeyes beat Michigan State 79-62 at home, ending a four-game losing streak in the series. Michigan State: Point guard Foster Loyer was on the bench, but not in uniform, resting his injured left shoulder for a third game in a row. Michigan State: Play at Maryland on Sunday, a third game in six days against a team that has been resting and practicing since beating Rutgers on Feb. 21.

Liddell during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021, in Columbus, Ohio. After six ties in the second half, Michigan pulled away in the final minutes and then held off Ohio State 92-87 Sunday in a meeting that showcased two teams aiming for No. Ad“I thought his length and size bothered us," Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann acknowledged. Ohio State and Michigan both are projected to be No. Ohio State: At Michigan State on Thursday.

Their meeting Sunday headlines the national AP Top 25 schedule for the week, a matchup of teams contending for No. Meanwhile Ohio State (17-4, 11-4) has won six straight overall — including against the Badgers and No. “The biggest thing as a coach right now is we’ve got to get better,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said after Saturday’s win against Indiana. 25 last week but visits Michigan on Thursday. There’s also Belmont (22-1, 16-0 Ohio Valley) chasing the program’s first AP Top 25 poll ranking.