Ohio State Squanders Double-Digit Second-Half Lead, Falls At Indiana 66-60 To End Regular Season On Losing Note

Ohio State (17-14, 8-11 Big Ten) ended its 2024-25 regular season on a disappointing note Saturday night at historic Assembly Hall, blowing multiple second-half leads to Indiana (19-12, 10-10 Big Ten) to fall 66-60 and put a significant dent in their NCAA tournament hopes. 

The Buckeyes jumped out to a promising start in front of the raucous Hoosier faithful when it used suffocating team defense to lead 46-36 with just over 12 minutes left. But just like in many games this regular season, that lead slowly slipped away due to some disjointed play on both ends, which allowed Indiana to go on a 15-4 run to lead by one with 5:55 remaining. 

It appeared Ohio State was back in control and ready to leave Bloomington, Ind., with a crucial Quad 1 victory when it went on a quick 6-0 run to go back up 56-51, but the breaks fell off again when it missed each of its last six field goals and committed four turnovers in the final four turnovers, all of which allowed Indiana to close the game on another 15-4 run to secure the No. 9 seed in the Big Ten tournament. 

It appeared both bubble teams felt the pressure of this high-stakes game early on as they each struggled to find their rhythm offensively, combining to make just seven of their first 25 shots and committing three turnovers en route to an early 9-9 tie. 

Ohio State got out of its funk first by using some hot shooting — mostly from Ques Glover, John Mobley Jr. and Micah Parrish —  to spur a long 17-8 run that put it up front 26-17 with 3:47 after a Parrish three. After Indiana finally woke up with two straight field goals to trail 26-21, it seemed the Buckeyes were going to take back control of the game when Aaron Bradshaw stepped out and buried a three with 2:21 left to put them up nine. 

But a poor finish to the half for OSU allowed I-U to score the final four points of the half to trail 29-25 heading into the break, despite shooting just 31.0 percent (9 of 29) from the field and 11.1 percent from three (1 of 9) in the period.

Indiana cut the deficit to one on its first possession of the second half off a Luke Goode three, but another scoring flurry from Parrish helped the Buckeyes take back control and go on a 17-8 run to lead 46-36 with 11:59 left after a Devin Royal three, their largest lead of the night to that point. 

The game changed on a dime when a poor offensive sequence for the Buckeyes prompted a 15-4 I-U run that gave the Hoosiers their first lead since the 15:48 mark of the first half. With the raucous Assembly Hall crowd back into the game, Ohio State showed resolve with six straight points to go back up 56-51, and they could’ve extended the lead to even more after Omar Ballo missed a one-and-one free-throw attempt. 

But Parrish was unable to grab the rebound, and on the same possession Galloway hit a three to cut the deficit back down to 56-54 with 4:27 left. Indiana grabbed back the lead with four straight free throws, and after another Buckeye turnover, Galloway hit a deep three to go up 61-56 with 1:24 left. After the two teams split free throws, Ohio State had a final chance when it forced a turnover on Anthony Leal, but it missed each of its two three-point attempts on that possession, and Indiana made four more free throws to close out the win. 

After taking the 10-point lead midway through the second, OSU missed 12 of its final 14 shots and committed five turnovers. 

Ohio State, which shot just 38.2 percent (21 of 55) on the day and 32.1 percent (9 of 28) in the second half, was led in the loss by Parrish, who scored 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Royal added 13 points and six rebounds. Thornton was limited to just nine points on 2-of-10 shooting — his lowest scoring total since Feb. 9 at Nebraska, although he did have a team-high seven rebounds. 

Indiana was led in the win by Galloway and Malik Reneau, who both notched 16 points and combined for 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting in the second half. Goode added 11 and eight and Ballo nine and seven, helping I-U outrebound OSU 40-31 and outscore it 28-20 in the paint. With the loss, Ohio State will not earn a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament and will play on Day One Wednesday night as a No. 10 seed, set to face off against No. 7 seed Northwestern — who handed the Buckeyes a 21-point loss in Columbus on Feb. 20 — around 6 p.m. The game will air on Big Ten Network.