Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell said that he received death threats after the Buckeyes were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by 15-seed Oral Roberts.
Liddell finished with 23 points on 10 of 15 shooting but missed a key free throw with 37 seconds left in regulation. Ohio State was up 64-62 with Liddell's key one-and-one coming up, but his miss on the first free throw allowed Oral Roberts to tie the game at 64 on their next possession. Ohio State would later lose in overtime.
Liddell is the team's second-leading scorer, averaging 16.2 points, and 6.7 rebounds for a powerful Ohio State team who had Final Four aspirations before the shocking collapse to unknown Oral Roberts.
"You are such a f****** disgrace. Don't ever show your face at Ohio State. We hate you. I hope you die I really do," one person said to him on social media.
Liddell shared screenshots of some of the comments on Twitter.
"Honestly, what did I do to deserve this? I'm human," Liddell tweeted. "Comments don't get to me but I just wanna know why. I've never done anything to anyone in my life to be approached like this."
According to ESPN, officials at Ohio State have reached out to the police to investigate the threats.
"The threatening social media attack E.J. Liddell faced after the game yesterday is appalling and will not be tolerated," Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said in a statement posted on Twitter. "To the few of you who have chosen to inappropriately rail against our players on social media, stop. Hate and derision have no place in Buckeye Nation or in civil society. If you cross the line and threaten our players, you will be hearing from the authorities. That I promise you."
Liddell led the Buckeyes, scoring 23 points and logging a team-high 39 minutes in the 75-72 overtime loss to Oral Roberts.
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