First-half Indiana run dooms Ohio State in Assembly Hall
The sky is falling for Ohio State.
Quite literally, apparently.
After Indiana closed the first half of Saturday’s night’s game on a 15-0 run that turned a one-point affair into the makings of a blowout, a metal bar fell from the Assembly Hall jumbotron.
It was about seven feet away from hitting Buckeyes star freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh.
The game was delayed for approximately five minutes before play, and Indiana’s double-digit lead, continued. For the second game in a row, Ohio State’s offense — defunct much of January — was limited to Sensabaugh and not much else. West Virginia grad transfer Sean McNeil chipped in nine points, and center Zed Key logged a dozen (only three of which came in the first half), but, through 32-plus minutes of game action, Sensabaugh accounted for 41.8% of the Buckeyes’ scoring output.
Meanwhile, the Hoosiers were fueled by three players in double figures, most notably freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino and do-it-all senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. Hood-Schifino was a combined 3-of-17 in Indiana’s previous two games, but he was 6-of-7 from 3-point territory alone in the first half against Ohio State. Jackson-Davis — who was averaging 30.3 points, 15 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 4.7 blocks over the last three outings — scored or assisted on 11 of Indiana’s 15 points in its game-changing run.
Hood-Schifino and Jackson-Davis combined for 42 points in an 86-70 Hoosiers win that was really decided in the final 5:05 of the opening frame.
Ohio State (11-10, 3-7 Big Ten) dropped to 2-7 in January. After starting the season 10-3 and 2-0 in league play, the Buckeyes have lost seven of their last eight games and are at risk of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in head coach Chris Holtmann’s six-year tenure.
Meanwhile, Indiana (15-6, 6-4) has won five games in row after starting 1-4 in Big Ten competition. Led by head coach Mike Woodson, who returned to the court Saturday after missing the Minnesota game earlier this week with COVID-19, the Hoosiers have caught fire in the first month of 2023.
It took them a few minutes of the first half to get cooking against the Buckeyes, though. Ohio State actually staked itself to a 9-2 lead after Indiana endured a near-three-minute scoring drought.
Sixth-year Buckeyes forward Justice Sueing started things off with a jumper, however, that wasn’t a sign of things to come for the veteran. Despite re-entering the starting lineup, Sueing finished with a mere five points and as many rebounds (three) as he had fouls.
Sueing, Key and fellow Ohio State captain Isaac Likekele combined for six points in the first half. That trio was responsible for just four first-half points at Illinois on Tuesday.
The meat of the Buckeyes’ scoring in the first half, and really most of the night, came from Sensabaugh — a four-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week and first-round NBA prospect.
Sensabaugh led Ohio State in scoring for the 12th straight game and was a big reason why the Buckeyes had a two-possession lead by the first media timeout, courtesy of a 3-pointer and a second-chance layup.
The Hoosiers slingshotted back into the game with an 11-0 run, thanks to three 3-pointers from Hood-Schifino.
Ohio State featured a 2-3 zone defense throughout the night and frequently trapped Jackson-Davis. That said, while the double-teams limited Jackson-Davis’ scoring numbers early, they opened up opportunities for other Indiana players, namely Hood-Schifino.
The Buckeyes were slow on their rotations, and often Hood-Schifino had a wide-open look at the net from beyond the arc.
Ohio State freshman center Felix Okpara helped Holtmann’s team reclaim the lead approaching the midway point of the first half, first with a hook shot and then with a second-chance dunk.
But Hood-Schifino resumed his 3-point barrage to, once again, pull the Hoosiers ahead. The game of tug-of-war continued, however.
All nine of McNeil’s points were a byproduct of old-fashioned 3-point plays Saturday night. Two of them occurred in succession, as McNeil drained back-to-back 16-footers despite being fouled. That allowed the Buckeyes to close what was a six-point gap at the time.
But, after starting 7-of-8 from the free throw line, the Buckeyes made just one of their next five attempts from the charity stripe. That included three straight misses from Okpara when it was still a 31-30 game.
That was the beginning of a horrid end to the first half for Ohio State, which didn’t score in the final five minutes of the period while Indiana ignited a fan frenzy.
Jackson-Davis’ fingerprint was all over the 15-0 Indiana run. It was only fitting that the surge culminated in the 6-foot-9 forward creating a steal and delivering a lob to Kaleb Banks inside moments later for the half’s final basket.
The Buckeyes started the second period the same way they started the first one: by outscoring Indiana, 9-5. Only this time, they were facing a double-digit deficit.
Key kicked off the final frame with a dunk and a 3-pointer, signifying the start of a much-improved shooting half for Ohio State. The Buckeyes shot just 34.5% in the opening period and 53.3% in their second go-around. The problem was, they couldn’t get stops.
The teams split the second half, 40-40, and Ohio State never got closer than 11 points in the final 20 minutes of game action.
Sensabaugh continued to do his thing, but it wasn’t close to enough for a shortened Buckeyes rotation that didn’t see Tanner Holden or Eugene Brown III play until the second period.
Freshman point guard Bruce Thornton, who has now scored in double figures only once in the last nine games, didn’t etch his name into the score card until there were 98 seconds remaining. Thornton started and played 24 minutes.
Holtmann used six different starting rotations in January, but, aside from what looks to be an outlier performance against Iowa, the Buckeyes have been grasping for straws offensively the last three weeks.
And, on Saturday night, their defense became as much of an issue as their offense.
Ohio State is third-to-last in the Big Ten standings and is running out of time to build an NCAA Tournament resume.
