Indiana falters against Ohio State’s press and falls 74-69
COLUMBUS, Ohio – 10 minutes. 10 points. 11 turnovers.
It was a game Indiana could have won. It was a game Indiana would have won if they had played consistently. If only they had a little bit more intensity. If only they had a little bit more control. If only they had adjusted a little bit better, a little bit faster.
Indiana knew what they were going up against when they played Ohio State. The Buckeyes are notorious for their full-court press and general defensive pressure, something the Hoosiers were all too familiar with after faltering against that press in the Big Ten tournament last season. The matchup between No. 10 Indiana and No. 8 Ohio State was one that, for all the excitement and anticipation surrounding it, was relatively predictable.
The game would revolve around the press.
So, when the Buckeyes turned up the intensity in the second half, the Hoosiers knew what they needed to do. But they couldn’t do it. They had prepared, but they weren’t ready.
“We were prepared — tried to prepare our guys for that aggressiveness that was going to come with the press,” Teri Moren said. “It wasn’t like we were surprised by it, but we just didn’t handle it very well.”
If you had to pick two words to describe Indiana’s 74-69 loss to Ohio State Sunday afternoon, they would be “turnovers” and “press”. Indiana’s 11 third-quarter turnovers made up almost half of their total of 23 and Ohio State capitalized on Indiana’s sloppiness to score 21 points off those turnovers.
“That’s the game right there,” Moren said. “We can dissect it any way you want, but that’s the game.”
40 minutes. 23 Indiana turnovers. 21 Ohio State points.
But it all comes back to one other stat line.
10 minutes, 10 points, 11 turnovers.
That’s also the game. That was Indiana’s third quarter.
The Hoosiers turned the ball over twice in 18 seconds coming out of halftime, a product of the Buckeyes guarding them as close to the baseline as possible. As the quarter continued, Indiana was continually forced into sloppy passes and bad decisions while trying to cross the half-court line.
“We were all guilty,” Moren said.
They were guilty of poor spacing, rushing and simply not playing how they needed to.
“All of us are guilty of one or two we wish we could get back,” Moren said. “And you can’t do that against a team like Ohio State because they make you pay.”
Because while Indiana was struggling to even get to the other side of the floor, Ohio State was racing up and down the court to outscore Indiana 23-10. By all accounts, a quarter with more turnovers than points could be insurmountable. It almost was.
The Buckeyes rolled into the fourth quarter with the same ease and confidence they had just displayed and built their lead to 14 points with seven and a half minutes remaining. The Hoosiers looked dejected and disappointed. With under one minute to go, though, they kicked it into high gear and cut their deficit to three points. But it was too late.
“We just ran out of time,” Moren said.
A few minutes of aggressive defense and on-the-mark shooting don’t make up for the other 35-plus minutes of inconsistent scoring and poor decision-making. It doesn’t make up for the 10 points and 11 turnovers in 10 minutes.
But it does allow Indiana to leave Ohio with some hope.
Sara Scalia scored 25 points for her seventh game of the season putting up at least 20 points and showed off her speed and ball-handling abilities in the instances when Indiana could break through the press. Yarden Garzon scored 14 points, had nine rebounds and hit two clutch 3-pointers in the game’s final minute.
Indiana learned what it was like to go up against an aggressive defense, come close to winning and fall short. They learned what they need to do to break a press and how to work together to get back in the game after what could have defeated a team’s morale. The loss wasn’t good, but it was productive.
“All of these have been really hard lessons, but we take every lesson that we’ve learned and we’ve become better because of it,” Moren said.
The loss is Indiana’s third of the season. All three losses have been on the road, in good environments, to ranked teams. Indiana’s other two losses — Stanford and Iowa — were blowouts, leaving the Hoosiers frustrated and upset with themselves. That’s not to say they aren’t feeling the same way after Sunday’s game; Moren’s squad is not one to shy away from recognizing their faults. This loss does have some bright spots, though, whereas the other two didn’t.
In this one, Indiana showed some fight.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
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