Ohio State out scored Indiana 13-3 in the final 5:12 of regulation to force overtime, overcoming an early 14-6 Hoosier burst that turned a game that Ohio State controlled for much of the first half, but the Hoosiers hit a three with 1 minute to play that turned out to be the game winner as Indiana gave Ohio State their 4th home defeat of the season, downing the Buckeyes 77-76. Ohio State drops their 3rd straight and falls to a miserable 10-8 and 2-5 in Big Ten play, while Indiana improves to 14-5 and 5-3. The Buckeyes finished the night hitting 45% from the floor including 8 of 23 from downtown, while Indiana made one extra play and shot 42% overall and 6 of 20 from deep. 14 offensive rebounds leading to 17 second chance points was the difference in the Hoosier win. Ohio State was led by John Mobley, Jr, who hit 5 of 11 threes and finished with 22 points. Micah Parrish added 19 and Bruce Thornton 18 in the losing effort. Luke Goode hit 4 of 7 from long range, heating up in the second half to score an Indiana and game high 23 and Oumar Ballo scored 21.  

The Buckeyes got off to a good start, scoring on 3 of their first 4 possessions, all in the paint, including a old-fashioned three point play by John Mobley, Jr. to take an early 7-4 lead, but a pair of offensive rebounds and scores for the Hoosiers combined with a pair of Buckeye turnovers had Ohio State’s lead at just 1, 7-6 at the first media timeout. The Hoosiers took their first lead quickly out of the timeout, getting a layup on a baseline inbounds play. After the Hoosiers scored again, extending their run to 6-0, Parrish scored at the rim through contact and completed an old-fashioned three point play, hitting a free throw to tie the game. After the Hoosiers broke the tie splitting a pair of free throws, Micah Parrish buried a three from the right corner shifting the Buckeyes back in front. Just before the under 12 media timeout, Ques Glover got hacked attempting a three from the left corner as the Buckeyes took a 6-1 run and a 13-11 lead into the timeout. Out of the timeout, Glover hit the stripe for three and he buried all three to extend the lead to 5. The 9-1 run ended with the third offensive rebound and score for IU. The Buckeyes answered when after a Hoosier miss, they got out in transition where Mobley fed Parrish for a lay-in.  Ohio State turned it over on three straight possessions and Indiana scored the next 5 to tie the score. A dunk both ways kept the game deadlocked at the under 8, 20-20. The Hoosiers regained the lead with a lob and score at the rim, but a Parrish steal and score in transition re-tied the game. A pair of Thornton free throws put Ohio State back in front and a Thornton triple on the ensuing possession forced Indiana to take a timeout at the 5:05 mark with the Buckeyes having scored 5 straight to take a 27-22 lead. 2 Hoosier freebies stopped the run, but Evan Mahaffey hit a three as the shot clock expired, his first triple of the year. After a Hoosier bucket, Thornton, attempting a lob inside had the ball fall through the cylinder and at the under 4, Ohio State led 32-26. Coming out of the timeout, Glover was back on the line where he split the pair to extend the lead to 7, but three IU free throws trimmed the lead back to 4. Ohio State answered when Stewart scored at the rim, but missed a free throw to complete a possible three point play. That would be the final score of the half as Ohio State took a 35-29 lead to the locker room. The Buckeyes shot 46.2% from the floor, while hitting 3 of 9 from long range and 8 of 11 from the stripe, out-scoring the bigger Hoosiers in the paint 18-16. Indiana, who out rebounded Ohio State 19-17, while grabbing 8 offensive boards, shot just 33.3% from the field, missing 8 of their 9 three point attempts. The Buckeyes were led by Micah Parrish, who had a game high 12 points in the first half, while Bruce Thornton chipped in 9. Oumar Ballo led Indiana with 10 points and 5 rebounds.

The Hoosiers cut into the lead in the opening minutes, out-scoring the Buckeyes 8-4, with Mobley scoring all 4 Buckeye points. After Thornton hit a jumper in the middle of the paint, Indiana completed an old-fashioned three point play to trim the lead to just 1. After a Buckeye turnover, the Hoosiers made them pay with a three to grab their first lead since midway through the first half. The Buckeyes tied the game when Aaron Bradshaw drained a jumper from the left elbow, but IU answered with a turnaround jumper as the shot clock expired. Mobley put the Buckeyes back in front with a triple, but the lead was short lived as the Hoosiers scored 5 straight to go up 4. Thornton ended the run, hitting a tough, contested shot in the middle of the paint and Ohio State took a timeout at the 11:43 mark with Indiana on top 50-48. After a Hoosier bucket extended the lead, scores by Stewart and Parrish tied the score and after another IU deuce, Mobley hit a three to put Ohio State ahead. Indiana ended the 7-2 Buckeye burst with a 5-0 run of their own to take a 59-55 lead into the under 8 media timeout. Out of the timeout, Mobley drained a three from straight on top to bring Ohio State to within 1 with 7 minutes to play. The Hoosiers answered with a 9-0 run to take command as the Buckeyes went over three minutes without scoring. A Mobley three ended the run and cut the deficit to 7 with 4 minutes to play, but a wide open layup on the other end answered. Parrish hit a runner while being fouled which created a stoppage in play that took the game to the final media timeout at the 3:06 mark and Indiana holding a 70-63 lead. Parrish completed the and one opportunity by hitting the free throw and on the ensuing inbounds play, Parrish stole a pass and took it to the rim for a dunk to cut the deficit to 4. The backcourt pressure forced a corner trap and Indiana had to call a timeout at the 2:46 mark and the Hoosiers lead cut to 70-66. After Indiana split a pair of free throws, Thornton drilled a short pull up jumper to cut the deficit to 3. Ohio State regained possession after a pair of stops and called a timeout with 46 seconds to play, trailing 71-68. Out of the timeout, Mobley hit a logo three from the top with 38 seconds to play and Indiana took a timeout with the game tied at 71. The Buckeyes got the stop and on the other end, Mahaffey caught a Thornton pass at the block and heavily defended couldn’t get a clean shot and the horn sounded sending the game to overtime.

It took a minute and a half for either team to score in the extra frame and when the first bucket fell, it was Ivan Njegovan who scored from the right block with a baby hook off the window. After the Hoosiers split a pair of free throws, Ohio State turned it over and Indiana took the lead with a jumper. The Buckeyes re-gained the lead when Thornton got to the rim and scored through contact. He knocked down the freebie to complete the three point play and Ohio State led by 2 with 1:26 to play. A triple on the other end with just over a minute to play put Indiana on top and after a Mobley miss from deep, Indiana took a timeout with 38 seconds left in overtime with the Hoosiers leading 77-76. The Buckeye defense got the stop they needed forcing a shot clock violation and Ohio State regained possession with 15.5 seconds remaining and Thornton’s three at the horn fell in and out as the Buckeyes suffer what might be the worst loss of the season. 

It’s tough to ever say ‘must win’ but this was as close to a must win game as you can have in January and playing without 2nd leading scorer Devin Royal, Ohio State couldn’t get it done. It’s the same old story for Ohio State. Stretches of poor play when they have opportunities to either extend leads or keep pace create opponents runs that either keep their opponent in the ball game or dig deep holes for the Buckeyes. To their credit, they continue to fight. Forcing the overtime period was remarkable, but you have to finish the deal and they unfortunately fell one possession short once again. Playing an Indiana team that came in reeling, it was an opportunity on their home floor that they could absolutely not afford to let get away, yet here we are. Where do they go from here? Well, losing 3 conference home games is not a recipe for success and it’s going to be a real uphill battle the rest of the way just to qualify for the Big Ten tournament. For a team with high hopes and one that most basketball people had finishing in the upper half of the conference, that’s just devastating. It’s up to them to right the ship, but it’s not going to be easy. There are stretches and flashes where you can see the potential of this team, but they continue to drop 1 and 2 possession games, so they need to learn how to finish games and hopefully they can string wins together soon. 

The Buckeyes head back to the road for their next one, heading to #17 Purdue on Tuesday night for a 7:30 tip airing on Peacock.

-Jason Harris