UT Arlington at Ohio State

Sitting behind the Arlington bench, the Buckeyes fan rose from his chair as Mavericks guard Drew Charles approached with a drink in his hand.

UTSA (2-1), picked in the preseason to finish eighth in the Sun Belt Conference, was led by center Kevin Hervey with 18 points.

Jae’Sean Tate and Keita Bates-Diop lead a group of eight freshmen and sophomores who are seeing most of the playing time for Thad Matta’s squad.

When UT Arlington tips off at Ohio State at 6 p.m. Friday night, they’ll be earning the athletic department a nice chunk of change.

Trailing 62-53 with 6:36 remaining, the Buckeyes (2-1) pulled within 62-57 on a four-point run by freshman JaQuan Lyle and within three on two occasions in the final 15 seconds but could not overcome the deficit. The loss was the first of its kind since a 59-50 loss to Bowling Green on December 22, 1994, in St. John Arena and the Buckeyes’ first home nonconference loss since a 74-66 loss to Kansas on December 22, 2012 – a streak of 25 games.

Scott Cross was subdued in the postgame interview room, but the Texas-Arlington coach admitted he hadn’t been immediately after his team beat Ohio State 73-68 on Friday night.

Arling finished 38 percent (24 for 64) from the field, but the Buckeyes struggles at the free throw line didn’t help things. Ohio State finished 13 for 27 from the foul line. It would twice climb back to nine points.

The Buckeyes are paying UTA $100,000 for Friday’s game, the first of four “money” games UTA has scheduled over the next three weeks.

What started as a poor shooting night carried over the the second half. The Buckeyes shot 50 percent from 3-point range in the first half, but only 37.5 percent on two-point field goals. In between, the Buckeyes missed six shots, two free throws and turned over the ball once.

Ohio State, you’re the next, and latest, victim.