Indiana 72, No. 20 Ohio State 64: Will Sheehey posted 19 points and a career-high four steals as the host Hoosiers downed the Buckeyes to defeat their second top-25 opponent in four days.
Yogi Ferrell added 20 points for Indiana (17-12, 7-9 Big Ten), which overcame 18 turnovers in its fourth victory over a ranked opponent in conference play. The Hoosiers, who downed No. 19 Iowa on Thursday, host Nebraska on Wednesday before traveling to No. 16 Michigan on Saturday to meet their fourth top-25 foe in five games to close out the regular season.
Lenzelle Smith Jr. and LaQuinton Ross scored 19 points apiece for Ohio State (22-8, 9-8), which failed to a hit a 3-pointer for the first time in 368 games with a 0-of-11 performance from beyond the arc. The Buckeyes have lost two straight to fall into sixth place in the conference with only a home contest next weekend against No. 18 Michigan State remaining.
Indiana connected on only three of its first 14 field-goal attempts to fall behind by eight with just less than eight minutes remaining until intermission before Ferrell and Sheehey combined for 17 points during a 21-5 surge that ended the half with the Hoosiers up 33-25. Ohio State narrowed the margin to two on two occasions in the opening minutes of the second half but was unable to get over the hump.
The Buckeyes’ best shot at overtaking Indiana came on Ross’ jumper with 9 ½ minutes left to trim the deficit to 48-47 before Evan Gordon and Sheehey drilled consecutive 3-pointers to hold off the charge. Hanner Mosquera-Perea contributed a three-point play and added a layup with 1:43 remaining to match Indiana’s biggest lead of the game at 65-55 while Ferrell drained three late free throws to account for the final margin.
GAME NOTEBOOK: With three steals on Sunday, Ohio State G Aaron Craft tied former Illinois standout Bruce Douglas for first place in Big Ten history with 324 for his career. … Indiana freshman F Noah Vonleh (left foot inflammation), who ranks second on the team in scoring and leads the Big Ten in rebounding, missed his first game of the season. … The Buckeyes, who had won eight of the 10 previous meetings, have dropped four of their last five on the road against unranked opponents.
Ohio St. | Indiana | |
LaQuinton Ross 19 | Scoring | Kevin Ferrell 20 |
Aaron Craft 4 | Assists | Kevin Ferrell 4 |
Amir Williams 7 | Rebounds | Austin Etherington 6 |
LaQuinton Ross 5 | Free Throws Made | Kevin Ferrell 7 |
Aaron Craft 3 | Steals | Will Sheehey 4 |
LaQuinton Ross 2 | Blocks | Hanner Mosquera-Perea 3 |