Five takeaways from Indiana’s win against Ohio State

Indiana finished the regular season with a 66-60 win against Ohio State on Saturday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers are 19-12 overall, concluded Big Ten play with a 10-10 mark and will play Oregon next week in the Big Ten tournament.

Here are five takeaways from the win against the Buckeyes:

Defense carries Indiana in the final five minutes

It was an afternoon to forget offensively for IU basketball. The Hoosiers shot just 35.2 percent from the field, 25 percent on 3s and never got in rhythm for a sustained period.

After Ohio State grabbed a one-point lead at 52-51 on a Devin Royal layup, Indiana’s defense took over. That Royal layup was the last field goal of the game for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State missed its final six field goal attempts as Indiana closed the game on a 15-4 run over the final five minutes.

The Buckeyes shot 9-for-28 in the second half, good for just 32.1 percent. It was a team effort late, as Indiana held Ohio State without a point from the five-minute mark until Bruce Thornton broke more than a four-minute scoring drought with a free throw with less than a minute remaining.

By then, the game had already been decided. The Thornton free throws cut the Indiana lead to five, but the Buckeyes would get no closer in the final minute.

“Something that I tried to emphasize to the team early in the season when we were going through our scoring ruts was it doesn’t matter how much we score, how well we shoot,” Luke Goode said postgame. “We should still be able to win games when it’s ugly.”

All of Trey Galloway’s second-half points came from the perimeter

Not known for his shooting, Trey Galloway’s perimeter heroics lifted Indiana to its third straight home win.

Each of Galloway’s 3-pointers in the second half came at key times. Galloway’s first triple connected with 11:10 left and pulled the Hoosiers within five at 46-41.

He followed that up with another 3-pointer at the 4:27 mark, cutting Ohio State’s lead to two at 56-54.

And then Galloway hit the dagger with 1:24 left in a late-shot clock situation. With less than four seconds remaining on the shot clock, Galloway nailed a deep 3-pointer right in the face of Bruce Thornton to push the Indiana lead to five at 61-56.

“I couldn’t be more proud because he’s caught so much hell,” Mike Woodson said postgame. “And it was only fitting that he hit the biggest shot of the game tonight, you know, to really seal it and give us the cushion that we needed to win.”

Over IU’s final two home games, Galloway shot 7-for-12 on 3-pointers in wins against Penn State and Ohio State.

Indiana shut down Bruce Thornton and John Mobley

Ohio State senior wing Micah Parrish led the Buckeyes with 19 points, a game-high.

IU didn’t have an answer for Parrish – who shot 6-for-11 – for most of the afternoon, but it was able to slow down Buckeye guards Bruce Thornton and John Mobley.

Thornton shot 2-for-10 in 35 minutes and Mobley was 3-for-11. The duo combined to shoot 2-for-12 from the perimeter.

Thornton finished with nine points, well below his season average of 17.8 points per game. Thornton had scored at least 20 points in three straight games prior to Saturday. Anthony Leal’s defensive work on Thornton was impressive.

Mobley entered Saturday’s game averaging 13.4 points and scored just seven. He was 1-for-8 on 3s and his frustration in the second half boiled over when he elbowed Leal in the face and was whistled for a flagrant one foul.

Indiana won the free-throw battle by a significant margin

Ohio State is among the worst teams in the country at keeping its opponents off the free-throw line. The Buckeyes have struggled to defend without fouling all season.

On Saturday, Indiana took advantage of that weakness.

The Hoosiers got to the stripe 31 times against the Buckeyes for a free throw rate (FTA/FGA) of 57.4 percent. It was the highest free throw rate in a Big Ten game for IU this season.

More importantly, IU converted its opportunities. The Hoosiers shot 23-for-31, good for 74.2 percent. Malik Reneau shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the line and Goode was 8-for-10.

Ohio State, meanwhile, attempted only 15 free throws and made 10 for 66.6 percent. Indiana outscored the Buckeyes by 13 points from the stripe in the victory.

Win keeps Hoosiers in the mix for NCAA tournament berth

Indiana isn’t a lock for the NCAA tournament, but Saturday’s win has the Hoosiers trending in the right direction.

With wins in five of its last seven games, Indiana improved its standing for March Madness by completing the season sweep of Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are also on the bubble and Saturday’s win was another Quad 2 victory for Indiana’s resume. The Hoosiers are unbeaten in games outside of Quad 1.

Indiana will have another chance to bolster its resume next week in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers will play Oregon at 12 p.m. ET on Thursday in the Big Ten tournament.

With potential bid thieves looming in other conference tournaments, Indiana can solidify its standing with the selection committee by beating the Ducks. Oregon won the first meeting between the two teams earlier this week, 73-64, in Eugene.

Category: Five Takeaways

Filed to: Ohio State Buckeyes, Trey Galloway