Malaki Branham had six points in the decisive run and finished with 14 points for the Buckeyes while teammate E.J. Liddell led all scorers with 16.
Ohio State scored the first six points of the second half to extend their lead to double digits for the first time at 29-18.
The Buckeyes pushed it to 13 points a few minutes later on Meechie Johnson Jr.’s 3-pointer, and Liddell made it 14 for the first time with a free throw with 13:03 to go.
The Ramblers cut the deficit to single-digits three times after that, but their scoring struggles (and the Ohio State defense) kept them from getting closer than eight.
The Buckeyes held Loyola to 27 percent shooting (15 for 56) while making 42 percent of their attempts (18 for 43).
Central Ohio native Braden Norris led Loyola with 14 points while making 5 of his 13 shots, including 4 of 11 from 3-point range.
FIRST HALF RECAP
Malaki Branham scored 10 points for Ohio State as the Buckeyes opened up a 23-18 halftime lead in their NCAA Tournament first-round game against Loyola-Chicago.
The teams slogged through the first part of the first half and were tied at nine after 12 minutes.
Ryan Schwieger broke the tie with a layup for Loyola-Chicago, but Ohio State responded with an 8-0 run.
Branham started it with a pull-up jumper then hit another midrange shot and scored on a breakaway dunk in the span of 70 seconds.
E.J. Liddell made a pair of free throws to cap the run, which ended on Braden Norris’ 3-pointer for the Ramblers.
Then Branham got loose for another breakaway dunk to start a 6-0 run that put Ohio State up nine, but Norris hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to six before the half.
Norris, a central Ohio native, led Loyola-Chicago with six points in the first half.
The Ramblers made only 7 of their 30 shots from the field (23 percent) while Ohio State was 8-for-20 (40 percent).
The Buckeyes missed all nine of their 3-point attempts in the first half but had 12 points in the paint.
They also got seven points from the charity stripe but gave up six offensive rebounds and turned the ball over eight times.
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