ST. LOUIS – Ohio exhibited the toughness its coach John Groce always preaches, but the Bobcats were struck down with a little bit of tough luck.

The 13th-seeded Bobcats had No. 1 seed North Carolina on the ropes, knocking down eight 3-pointers in the second half. The shooting touch they lacked in the first half also disappeared in overtime and they fell to the Tar Heels, 73-65, in the Sweet 16 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis on Friday night.

Walter Offutt had a career-high 26 points while making six 3-pointers and he scored the game-tying basket with 26 seconds left, but he failed to capitalize on a three-point play opportunity that would have given the Bobcats (29-8) the lead and Ohio did not hit another shot and was unable to become the first-ever 13 seed to reach the Elite Eight.

With a huge size advantage, the Tar Heels (32-5) outrebounded the Bobcats, 63-30, but playing without injured starting point guard Kendall Marshall, they committed a season-high 24 turnovers.

Tyler Zeller paced the Tar Heels with 20 points and 22 rebounds, while Reggie Bullock and John Henson also had double-doubles with 17 and 14 points, respectively, and 10 rebounds apiece.

“It was not the prettiest effort, by any means,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “… We realized we escaped.”

Offutt was 10 of 18 from the field overall, scoring 19 points in the second half. With the Bobcats down two, he took the ball baseline to the hoop against Stilman White, drawing a foul and scoring to tie the game, but his free throw came up short.

He came through on defense, though, blocking North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes on his attempt to make the Tar Heels the winner in regulation, and D.J. Cooper’s half-court heave was off the heel of the rim, forcing overtime.

The Bobcats managed only a pair of free throws in overtime and the Tar Heels pulled away.

“This feels terrible, one free throw away,” Offutt said. “As a leader on this team, I take responsibility. I’ve got to hit that free throw. … It feels terrible to kind of let my team down in that sort of way. I’m proud of the guys and I’m proud of the coaching staff and I’m proud of the university.”

Barnes was stymied by Ohio’s defense, finishing just 3 of 16 on the game, but he scored five of his 12 points in overtime.

Bullock, known more for his defense, opened overtime with a 3-pointer, and after a miss by Ohio, Barnes scored a jumper to put North Carolina up five.

Nick Kellogg hit two free throws with 1:34 remaining to get Ohio within three, but the Bobcats could not get the stop they needed, with Kellogg fouling Barnes as the shot clock wound down. He made a pair of free throws and added one more with 38 seconds.

“They made some big plays in the overtime,” said Cooper, who after excelling in the first two games of the tournament, struggled to a 3-of-20 shooting night. “They made a big 3 and Harrison Barnes made a big shot, too. They just stepped up and made some plays and we didn’t.”

Despite trailing by 15 in the first half and seven at halftime, the Bobcats roared back to life, scoring seven straight points to take a 57-53 lead with 3:49 remaining on two Cooper free throws.

Cooper came up with a steal and had a chance to add to the advantage, but he got blocked from behind, and on the other end, North Carolina came up with a four-point possession to tie the game. Barnes split two free throws, came up with his own rebound and drained a 3-pointer.

Zeller later hit the second of two free throws to put North Carolina up a point, but Ivo Baltic scored on a fadeaway in the paint to put Ohio up 61-60 with 1:42 remaining.

After misses by both teams, Bullock hit a shot from beyond the arc to make it 63-61 in the Tar Heels’ advantage with 40 seconds remaining.

“I was just begging and pleading and trying to work my rear off just to get us to overtime,” Williams said.

Early on it looked like it could be a cakewalk for the Tar Heels, who used a 10-0 run to take a 14-4 lead and held the Bobcats to 22.9 percent shooting in the first half.

After Offutt converted a layup at the 16:58 mark, the Ohio offense went cold, not scoring again until two Reggie Keely free throws with 12:46 to go.

T.J. Hall completed a reverse layup to get the Bobcats back within six, but the Tar Heels came back with eight more in a row, making it 22-8 on a Reggie Bullock 3-pointer midway through the half. North Carolina’s lead peaked at 15 on a basket by Zeller that made it 26-11.

“The only reason we were in the game despite our shooting struggles was how well we defended the last 10 minutes of the half,” Ohio coach John Groce said. “… That kept us in the game until we started making some shots and plays in the second half.”

Consecutive 3-pointers by Kellogg and Offutt quickly cut Ohio’s deficit back to single digits. Cooper scored a layup off a Kellogg steal to cap the 8-0 run as the Tar Heels went scoreless for three and a half minutes.

James Michael McAdoo finally ended the North Carolina drought, but Kellogg was left open from the corner from his third 3-pointer of the half, getting Ohio as close as 28-22. Zeller had one free throw to close out scoring in the half with the Tar Heels leading by seven.

“I’m awful proud of our guys for the way they fought when things weren’t going well,” Groce said. “They had to fight through adversity and they’ve done that all year.”

After making just 4 of 15 3-pointers in the first half, Ohio came out on fire in the second half, going 8 of 13.

The Bobcats hit three straight after they fell behind 10 early in the second half, with T.J. Hall’s make getting Ohio within a point.

North Carolina held on to the lead, though, until back-to-back 3-pointers by Cooper and Kellogg gave Ohio its first lead, 47-46.

“We didn’t really change anything at halftime,” said Kellogg, who had a team-high eight rebounds. “Coach just told us to be shot-ready.”

Bullock had a 3-pointer that put North Carolina on top, 51-47, with 7:36 to go, and Henson hit a jumper with 6:06 to go that made it a three-point game.

Keely threw down a dunk on a pass from Cooper, to make it a one-point game, and Cooper scored a three-point play and then connected on two free throws for Ohio’s biggest lead of four points.

“I think we feel like we got away with one,” Zeller said. “Ohio played the better game.”

Kellogg was 4 of 5 beyond the arc and finished with 14 points. Cooper had 10 points and six assists. Already Ohio’s all-time career assist leader, he had two steals to tie for the top spot in school history in the category.

Ohio established a new record for wins in a season and reached the round of 16 for just the second time in school history. It had won 10 of its last 11 games entering Friday night.

“It never feels good when you’re into the tournament and you got to go home,” Groce said. “The biggest thing I’ll miss is I enjoy being around these guys. I’ve enjoyed this team. The fact that we don’t’ get to practice any more this season hurts me probably more than anything because of how much I’ve enjoyed being around them.”

With no seniors, though, the Bobcats will have a chance to build on this season’s accomplishments.

“Obviously, we went on a heck of a run,” Offutt said. “… It’s just a humbling experience to know that we came together as a group and were able to achieve what we did.”