Ohio State Drops Third Straight, Falls To Indiana 77-76 In Crushing Overtime Loss At Home
Ohio State (10-8, 2-5 Big Ten) dropped its third straight conference game in crushing fashion Friday night against Indiana (14-5, 5-3 Big Ten) in front of a “White Out” crowd at Value City Arena, coming back from 10 down in the second half to force overtime before falling 77-76 to the Hoosiers in the extra period after a last-second miss from Bruce Thornton.
It seemed like the Buckeyes were poised for a potentially season-altering conference win when it used some late-game heroics to turn a 68-58 deficit into a 71-71 tie at the end of regulation. But instead, it was just another demoralizing close loss for Diebler’s squad, who took multiple two-point leads in overtime before falling to the Hoosiers on a late second-chance three from senior forward Luke Goode.
Ohio State looked like it was in for a successful night on its home floor when it made six of its first 13 shots, including one three-pointer from Micah Parrish, to jump out to an 18-13 lead with 10:16 left after a Parrish fastbreak layup.
The Buckeyes then turned it on over three straight possessions, allowing Indiana to punch back with a 9-2 run and go up 22-20 with 7:07 left after a basket by highly coveted transfer center Oumar Ballo — who accounted for 10 of Indiana’s first 22 points. But a dominant defensive sequence for the home team allowed OSU to reclaim control and go on a long 13-4 run that put it up 33-26 with 3:12 left after a pair of Ques Glover free throws.
Ohio State continued to excel on defense by holding Indiana without a field goal for the remainder of the half and forcing a pair of Hoosier turnovers to hold a 35-29 lead at the break. The Buckeyes made five of their final eight shots of the half.
Indiana’s offense woke up in a big way to start the second half, breaking its 4:41 field goal drought with a layup from sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako and then making eight of its next seven field goals to take a 50-46 lead with 12:50 left after a deep three-pointer from senior forward Luke Goode, his third of that sequence.
Ohio State rebounded in the ensuing minutes to go back up one, 55-54, with 9:09 left after a John Mobley Jr. three, but that positive spurt was short lived when the Hooseirs exploded again on offense, this time going on a 14-3 run to take a comfortable 68-58 lead off a contested turnaround jumper from Goode.
The Buckeyes began to mount a ferocious comeback when it broke a 3:11 scoring drought with another Mobley three and then got a conventional three-point play and subsequent dunk off a steal from Parrish to trail just 70-66 with 3:00 left.
After Ballo made one free throw, OSU responded again with a Thornton runner before Mobley came off a Ivan Njegovan screen at the top of the key and drilled a three to tie the game at 71 with just 38 seconds left. The two teams then missed potential game-winners the rest of regulation to send the game into overtime.
OSU struck first in overtime off the hands of true freshman Ivan Njegovan, who scored on a nifty post-move and then blocked the 7-0 Ballo on the other end to take a 73-71 lead. After Indiana scored three straight to go up 74-73, the Buckeyes went back on top 76-74 after a tough three-point play to lead 76-74, but the Hoosiers responded right back with a second-chance triple by Goode to lead 77-76 with 1:07 left.
After both teams went scoreless on their next respective possessions, the Buckeyes had an open look at a game-winner when a loose ball found the hands of a wide open Thornton behind the three-point line, but his shot rimmed just out to give the Buckeyes yet another tough one-score loss.
Ohio State was led in the loss by Mobley, who broke out of his mini slump with 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting (5 of 11 from three), along with three rebounds and three steals. Parrish (19) and Thornton (18) also led the second-half comeback, while Stewart grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Indiana, which shot an efficient 55.6 percent (15 of 27) in the second half to overcome the six-point halftime deficit, was led by Goode, who erupted for 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-7 shooting from three.
Ballo, meanwhile, added his fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and 15 boards, helping the Hooseirs own a 39-35 advantage on the glass.
Ohio State will look to prevent its losing streak from stretching to four games on Tuesday night when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on No. 16 Purdue at Mackey Arena. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. with the game streaming exclusively on Peacock.