Ohio State Buckeyes Earn No. 2 Seed in NIT Bracket

Jake Diebler's Ohio State Buckeyes have a chance to prove why they deserved a spot in March Madness.

Ohio State's efforts at an at-large NCAA Tournament bid fell just short Sunday.

However, the Buckeyes were still recognized for their end-of-season production with a two-seed in the National Invitation Tournament, set to take on Cornell on Tuesday.

Ohio State accepted their bid but was one of just a handful of NCAA Tournament snubs to do so. Other schools that did not accept their bid included St. John's, Pittsburgh, Indiana, Syracuse, and Ole Miss. 

After head coach Chris Holtmann was let go with just six regular-season games remaining, Ohio State called up assistant Jake Diebler to take over for the remainder of the season. In Diebler's first game on Feb. 18, the Buckeyes upset then-No. 2 Purdue.

Overall, the Scarlet and Gray went 6-2 under Diebler and did just enough to clinch a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament. They went on to defeat seven-seeded Iowa 90-78 Thursday in the second round before losing by three to eventual tournament champion Illinois by three Friday.

With Ohio State hosting Cornell (22-7, 11-3 Ivy League), the Buckeyes may need to prepare especially well for Big Red senior guard Chris Manon, who has scored in double figures in 17 of the last 19 games.

Manon, a unanimous All-Conference First Team honoree, has led the Big Red squad despite a slow personal start to the season. Junior guard Nazir Williams also added a two-way boost, averaging 11.4 points on 45.1 percent from the field and four rebounds per game on his way to All-Conference Second Team honors.

In addition, Cornell lost just three Ivy League games and finished second in the regular season standings behind Princeton.

The Big Red lost those three conference games by a combined eight points in the regular season but lost by eight to eventual Ivy League Tournament champion Yale in the semifinals.

The Buckeyes and Big Red tip off at 7 p.m. Tuesday from Value City Arena.