Ohio State built an early 9 point second half lead but ultimately, ice cold shooting spelled doom in one of the toughest venues in the Big Ten as Ohio State fell on the road to Indiana 71-65. The Buckeyes who have not won in a true road venue since January 1, 2023 at Northwestern leave Bloomington still in search of the elusive road victory and drop to 12-3 on the year, 2-2 in conference play. Indiana improves to 11-4 and 3-1 in the Big Ten. In addition to the cold shooting, 36% for the game, including 7 of 27 from deep, 14 turnovers leading to a 22-5 Indiana advantage in points off of those turnovers turned out to be the difference in the Hoosier win. The loss snaps a Buckeye 4 game winning streak and extends the losing streak in Assembly Hall to 3 straight. The Buckeyes out rebounded Indiana 49-27. Including 22 of the offensive variety but just couldn’t put the ball in the bucket and Indiana found their shooting stroke, hitting on an uncharacteristic 47% for the game. Ohio State was led by Jamison Battle’s 17, while Zed Key added 11. Felix Okpara finished with 6 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Indiana got 23 from Malik Reneau, 18 from Xavier Johnson and 10 from CJ Gunn.
It took over a minute for the first score of the game and it was the Hoosiers with the first points with a dunk on a give and go. Indiana scored again to jump out 4-0 as the Buckeyes opened with a pair of turnovers and 0 for 3 shooting. The Buckeyes got on the board when Bruce Thornton scored on a short jumper while being hit and completed the old-fashioned three point play, knocking down the ensuing free throw. Indiana answered with a triple and on the other end, after a Felix Okpara offensive rebound kept the possession alive, Evan Mahaffey got in the lane and with a pivot scored on a short jumper. The Hoosiers raced back the other way for a deuce of their own and at the first media timeout, Indiana was out to a 9-5 lead. The Hoosiers extended the lead with a driving bucket, but a long three from the right point by Jamison Battle, the 300th of his collegiate career, quickly answered. Four straight Hoosier points put Indiana up 7 but another three by Battle from the right point quieted the crowd. Thornton helped Ohio State cut the deficit even further, drilling a 12 footer from the right wing and following a Hoosier turnover, the teams retreated to their respective benches for the under 12 media timeout with Indiana holding a 15-13 lead. Out of the timeout, Thornton drilled a jumper from the left elbow to tie the score and after a defensive stop, Thornton found Battle in the right corner for three and Ohio State took their first lead. The Buckeye run continued when Thornton took a steal the other way and off the dribble drive, wrapped a pass to the right block to Zed Key who finished with a dunk. Indiana stopped the Buckeye 12-0 run, splitting a pair of free throws and after Ohio State came up empty on their possession, Indiana cut into the lead with a score at the rim. Scotty Middleton halted the Indiana momentum, drilling a jumper just above the stripe, but the other way, the Hoosiers got to the rim off the bounce and scored off the glass. The Buckeyes quickly answered when Thornton drove to the right block and kicked to a wide open Key at the right point and Key drained the triple and at the 8 minute media timeout, Ohio State led 20-15. A Buckeye turnover led to a breakaway dunk for Indiana and an Okpara foul put the Hoosiers on the stripe where the old-fashioned three point play was completed cutting the lead to just 2. Battle quieted the crowd again, going one on one along the right baseline and hit the 15 foot fader. After an Ohio State miss, Indiana corralled the rebound, but Roddy Gayle picked the pocket of the Hoosier and kicked to Middleton for three on the left wing and the Buckeyes led by 7. A Hoosier jumper slowed the OSU run and after a Taison Chatman steal and a Hoosier foul on a Gayle drive, the under 4 minute media timeout was called with the Buckeyes holding on to a 30-25 lead. A bad pass on the inbounds entry out of the timeout led to a Hoosier transition dunk, but a pair of Gayle free throws stopped the mini IU run and put Ohio State back ahead by 5. Key tipped in a Gayle miss to hold the lead, but on the next OSU possession a loose ball rebound found its way into a Hoosier hands which led to a cherry pick dunk the other way. Dale Bonner knocked down a jumper just above the stripe on a ball that hit every part of the iron before falling through, but on the other end a Hoosier triple fell while being fouled and after the free throws, the four point play was completed and the Buckeye lead was cut to just a point. Ohio State turned it over late in the shot clock and with 9 seconds to go in the half, a pair of Indiana free throws put the Hoosiers back in front. Just before the clock expired for the half, Key was fouled attempting to tip in a Mahaffey miss, and he converted both free throws and the half came to an end with the Buckeyes taking a 38-37 lead into the locker room. The Buckeyes held the slim lead despite turning it over 7 times to Indiana’s 3 leading to a 13-5 Hoosier advantage in points off turnovers. Both teams shot it at a 47% clip, while Ohio State was 5 of 15 from beyond the arc and Indiana hit 2 of 4. The Buckeyes continued to share it at a high level, assisting on 9 of their 15 made field goals and outscored Indiana 16-8 off the bench. The Buckeyes also held the lead despite the top scorer Bruce Thornton limited to just 12 minutes due to a couple fouls. Jamison Battle led Ohio State with 11, while Zed Key added 9 off the bench. Indiana was led by Kel’el Ware and Xavier Johnson who had 8 each.
The Buckeyes came out of the locker room with a sense of urgency, striking first when Battle tracked down his own miss and fed Okpara for a dunk. Ohio State added on when Gayle got into the lane and scored through contact and knocked down the free throw for an old-fashioned three point play. After another Buckeye defensive stop, a Battle triple from the right wing, taking a Thornton pass and banging it down forced Indiana to take a timeout just under 2 minutes into the half with the Buckeyes now leading 46-37 and on a 10-0 run dating back to the Key free throws late in the first half. A rebound and score just prior to the 17 minute mark got IU on the board for the first time in the half. Four more IU points cut into the Buckeye lead and at the under 16 timeout, Ohio State led 46-43, but Indiana was on a 6-0 run. The Buckeyes turned it over out of the timeout and the Hoosiers took advantage, scoring on a spin move near the rim. The Buckeyes were ice cold from the floor, missing 7 straight attempts before a Key dunk stopped the Hoosier 8-0 ruin and put the Buckeyes up 3. A Hoosier triple tied it at the 12 minute mark and at the under 12 media timeout, the game was tied at 48, but the momentum favored the home Hoosiers, out scoring Ohio State 11-2 since the Indiana timeout at the 18 minute mark. A Middleton jumper on the inbounds play out of the timeout put Ohio State back on top, but a pair of IU free throws re-tied the game. A Key offensive rebound and pass to Gayle for a dunk answered as the Buckeyes went back in front, but IU drilled a three on the other end as the lead changed hands. After another OSU turnover, their 13th, IU drilled a jumper and Chris Holtmann took a timeout with Indiana leading 55-52. After 3 offensive chances came up empty for Ohio State, Indiana scored again to extend the lead and with the Buckeyes being out scored 20-6 in the last 12 minutes, Indiana took a 57-52 lead into the under 8 minute timeout with the Buckeyes ice cold, hitting just 1 of 10 shots from beyond the arc. A Middleton jumper stopped the bleeding and cut into the lead but the normally atrocious Indiana 3 point shooting, found the bottom on another to put Indiana up 6. The lead extended to 8, their largest of the night when they got to the rim off a drive, but Thornton drove quickly to the basket on the other end and Chris Holtmann took a quick timeout at the 4:23 mark and Indiana leading 62-56. The Hoosiers scored at point blank range and after another miss, a Hoosier dunk on an alley-oop put Indiana up 10, but a Battle triple on the other end gave Ohio State life with 3 minutes to play and a pair of Okpara free throws cut the lead to 5. Indiana split a pair of free throws to go up 6 with just over 2 to play, but Okpara grabbed an offensive rebound and scored through contact and the ensuing free throw missed but Ohio State grabbed the offensive rebound and Gayle scored on a reverse lay in to cut the deficit to just 2 and Chris Holtmann took a timeout with 1:44 to play with Indiana clinging to a 67-65 lead. In desperate need of a defensive stop, Ohio State could not get it as Indiana scored at the rim to extend the lead. Ohio State took a timeout with 1 minute to play and Indiana held a 69-65 lead. The Buckeyes failed to convert as Gayle drove to the rim, but a Hoosier turnover gave the ball back to Ohio State with 23 seconds left in the game, but Battle caught the ball deep in the left corner and stepped on the baseline attempting a three to seal it. A backcourt foul sent Indiana to the line and they split the pair, but an offensive rebound and another foul put them right back at the stripe and 1 of 2 dropped to complete the scoring.
It was a really tough night all around for Ohio State. Despite building a nice lead early in the second half, they just couldn’t find the shooting rhythm. The looks were there, but unfortunately they just weren’t falling. Roddy Gayle and Bruce Thornton in particular, really struggled from the field, combining for just 7 of 24 shooting overall and 0 for 12 from 3 point range. In addition, of the 14 team turnovers, 10 came from Gayle and Jamison Battle who had 5 each, so they must get better in that area. On the positive side, there was no lack of effort on Ohio State’s part. They got after it on the back boards but clean look after clean look just didn’t fall. There will be better nights ahead for the Buckeyes so they can’t get down after a night like this and there won’t be many games when Bruce and Roddy will shoot it that poorly, so there is still a lot to look forward to as the season progresses. If they just have average games, Ohio State leaves Bloomington with a double-digit win, but it wasn’t meant to be on this night. It doesn’t get any easier as a ranked and unbeaten in conference play, Wisconsin team heads to Columbus on Wednesday night. A win in that game can go a long way in erasing the bad feelings they certainly feel after this one. Life on the road in the Big Ten isn’t easy and unfortunately tonight proved that once again.
Ohio State hits the floor next back at home, hosting Wisconsin in the Schott on Wednesday night. Tip time is scheduled for 8:30 PM airing on BTN.
-Jason Harris