COLUMBUS, Ohio — Indiana’s regular-season finale at Ohio State was as much of a must-win game as college basketball can have before postseason play.
IU entered Columbus coming off a blowout win over Minnesota, but a four-game losing streak before that. The team desperately needed to win a game like this — against another team on the NCAA Tournament bubble — to boost its own resume.
But the Hoosiers didn’t play Saturday’s first half like a group facing a must-win situation. They waited too long to show that urgency, as Ohio State cruised to a 91-78 win at the Schottenstein Center.
Indiana (18-13, 9-11 Big Ten) trailed by three points at the under-8 media timeout in the first half, with 7:39 remaining. But Ohio State (20-11, 12-8) closed the half on a 22-8 run to blow the game open.
“I think, obviously, we want to play well. We want to put ourselves in a position to win the game, and for us to have a stretch like that, it’s certainly disappointing,” IU head coach Darian DeVries said after the game. “But our guys are going to continue to battle. That’s all I know. So we’re going to get home, and we’re going to get ready for our next game.”
IU’s offense played effectively enough for the beginning of the first half, but struggled to get the 3-point looks it thrives on. Ohio State made a pointed effort in denying Lamar Wilkerson clean looks from beyond the arc, and it paid dividends: The Hoosiers went to the halftime locker room just 1 for 8 from 3-point range. They finished the game 5 for 18, with Wilkerson drilling two of his six attempts.
But the game turned when Indiana’s defense cratered. The Buckeyes shot 9 of 11 from the field and 4 for 5 from 3-point range during their critical 22-8 run.
IU is now 0-6 on the season when allowing opponents to shoot above 40 percent from 3-point range. Ohio State finished at 45.8 percent, after going 61.5 percent in the first half.
“I thought the biggest thing there was just the threes. We weren’t able to get a stop there, end of that first half,” DeVries said. “I thought we were back and forth a little bit, in decent shape. And then they got going, they got a couple drives to the rim, hit a few threes, and the lead exploded.”
The Hoosiers showed more fight in the second half. Ohio State grew its lead as large as 24 points, with 12:18 remaining, but IU got it down to as little as 10 with 3:24 to go. DeVries broke out a full-court press, and his players started showing the sort of desperation expected in a must-win game.
The offense also improved. Indiana shot 65.2 percent from the field in the second half. DeVries went with a two-big lineup, playing Reed Bailey and Sam Alexis together, for an uncharacteristically extended run. And it proved effective, as the pair combined for 17 points in the second half on 6-for-6 shooting.
But it was too little, too late. IU dug its hole at the end of the first half, and it proved too deep to escape.
And it leaves the Hoosiers’ NCAA Tournament hopes in peril. They went into this game holding the last at-large spot in the Bracket Matrix, and they’ll likely fall out of the projected field with this defeat — even with a plethora of other bubble teams losing on Saturday.
Indiana would now need a deep Big Ten Tournament run to get into a more comfortable position. It’ll play a bottom-four team on Wednesday, and a win would set up a matchup with Purdue or Ohio State. IU may need to add an upset over a top-four seed to its resume to be in better shape for March Madness.
The Hoosiers will hope their letdown effort in Columbus can turn into fuel heading into Chicago.
“I think we just have a lot of motivation to come into the Big Ten Tournament and show what we really can do,” Bailey said. “I mean, just having that bad taste in your mouth, I think it’s motivation enough to really come out and try and make a run.”
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