The Minute After: Ohio State

  • Jan 17, 2025 11:49 pm in

Thoughts on a 77-76 win against Ohio State:

The Hoosiers appeared to have this one sealed up.

A Luke Goode jumper put them up 10 (68-58) with 5:12 to play. And while a John Mobley Jr. 3-pointer cut that lead to seven, Kanaan Carlyle was there with a layup to punch Indiana’s lead back out to nine with 3:27 to play.

But Ohio State had other plans.

The Buckeyes closed out the half on a 10-1 run to force overtime, as the Hoosiers didn’t make a shot the rest of the second half, only mustering one Oumar Ballo free throw in the final 3:26 of game time. Things started to get shaky when the Buckeyes started pressing full-court. Trey Galloway got doubled near the corner, threw a pass that was intercepted, and then was dunked home by Micah Parrish as the Buckeyes inched closer.

When Mobley Jr. hit a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key out of a timeout, Indiana’s lead had officially vanished, the game tied at 71-all with 38 seconds to play.

Indiana’s last possession of regulation was a backbreaker. Goode missed a close-range shot on a drive. Ballo then missed back-to-back point-blank putback attempts.

Ohio State couldn’t get a shot off in time on the other end.

In overtime, Indiana won the extra frame 6-5. Goode hit a huge 3-pointer with 1:07 to play to put the Hoosiers up 77-76, the last points of the game to be scored. Ohio State had the final possession of the game. Anthony Leal blocked a Mobley Jr. attempt and an ensuing Bruce Thornton 3-pointer rimmed around and out for Indiana to emerge victorious.

This was a game that featured an unusual offensive output from the Hoosiers. Sure, Ballo went for 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting to go along with 15 rebounds, yet another dominant performance in Big Ten play against a team that had no answers for him inside.

But Carlyle got into the mix in a significant way, too. Mike Woodson auto-benched Myles Rice after he picked up his second foul at the 15:16 mark in the first half. He sat the rest of the way until halftime. After picking up a quick third foul to start the second half, Rice again went back to the bench. Carlyle got a lot of minutes tonight as a result and had a solid outing. His 36 minutes were third on the team behind Goode (41) and Ballo (40). Carlyle had his typical questionable shot selection from the mid-range in the first half.

But in the second half, Carlyle started scoring at the hole, including in transition. It led to an efficient 4-of-6 shooting performance. For the game, the Stanford transfer scored 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting. He didn’t turn the ball over once, grabbed four boards and dished out an assist.

But the night belonged to Goode. He scored a career-high 23 points. The senior made 7-of-14 from the field, 4-of-7 from deep and 5-of-5 from the line. Goode hit some key shots, including the aforementioned overtime 3-pointer. With Mackenzie Mgbako continuing to struggle, Goode’s scoring contributions were essential.

While Mgbako did seem to make an effort to get fouled instead of settling for jumpers, which led to a 4-of-4 mark from the line, he finished just 1-of-5 from the field. The sophomore played only five minutes in the second half. He subbed out at the 14:40 mark and never returned to the game, including overtime. He’s just 4-of-29 from the field over his last four games.

After back-to-back 25-point losses, the Hoosiers needed something to change. The downward spiral couldn’t continue.  Tonight in Columbus, they made sure it didn’t. Even after surrendering a 10-point lead late, Indiana hung in and gutted out an overtime victory.

It won’t cure everything, but a Quad 1 win on the road is just what this team needed.

Filed to: