Ohio State goes to a timeout during the Ohio State-Iowa game. Ohio State lost 75-62. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor
On the heels of their first loss at home this season, the Buckeyes will quickly return to the hardwood to defend their home court.
No. 22 Ohio State (16-7, 9-5 Big Ten) will host Indiana with a chance to split the season series after the Hoosiers took the first meeting in Bloomington Jan. 6. The Buckeyes were upset by Iowa 75-62 Saturday despite holding a lead in the second half and seeing freshman guard Malaki Branham score 22 points.
The Hoosiers outrebounded and played tight defense against Ohio State in the first matchup, much like the Hawkeyes did Saturday. Junior forward E.J. Liddell said the Buckeyes will need to put together a more complete game against Indiana to see better results.
“I feel like we competed at times rather than the whole 40 minutes,” Liddell said. “That’s an area we have to get better in is putting together, maximizing every second we’re out there as a team.”
Indiana (16-9, 7-8 Big Ten), which was originally scheduled to play at Ohio State Saturday but schedule adjustments pushed the game back two days, has lost four-consecutive games. The Hoosiers held a lead over then-No. 15 Wisconsin before going scoreless for the remaining 1:53 Tuesday.
Currently boasting the Big Ten’s No. 1 scoring defense, the Hoosiers limit opponents to 64.2 points per game on 37.9 percent shooting. The Buckeyes shot a season-low 30.8 percent against Indiana in the first matchup, and head coach Chris Holtmann said improvement must come on both ends of the floor.
“We got to get better at these areas that we struggled in,” Holtmann said. “Indiana’s a terrific team and going to present a lot of challenges. We got to find a way to coach and play better leading into, really, another big test.”
Junior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis posted a double-double against Ohio State and leads the Hoosiers with 18 points per game on 57.8 percent shooting, which is third-best in the conference. He’s also fourth in the Big Ten in rebounds, hauling in over eight boards per game.
While Jackson-Davis paces Indiana offensively, he also leads the conference with 2.6 blocks per game. Redshirt senior forward Race Thompson has swiped a team-high 27 steals and is second in scoring with an average of 11.7 points per game. He had 11 points on just 3-of-7 shooting against Ohio State.
Indiana does most of its damage down low. It shoots just 33.6 percent from beyond the 3-point line, and the Buckeyes held Iowa to a 28.6 percent clip Saturday.
The Hoosiers, though, are fourth in the conference in rebounding. Ohio State is 12-1 this season when grabbing more boards than its opponent, and Liddell said he had “crowds” of players around him as Iowa grabbed 40 rebounds, 20 of which offensively.
“Some drives I had, I feel like I could’ve did better,” Liddell said. “I just felt like they emphasized taking us out of our stuff and playing hard on defense.”
Ohio State has gone 3-3 in its last six games, sitting in fourth place in the Big Ten standings. Its next challenge will come against an Indiana team that handed the Buckeyes their first conference loss this season.
As teams are jockeying for position — including the top-half of the standings within one game of each other — in the race for the Big Ten crown, the Buckeyes expect a competitive stretch run. Holtmann said Ohio State will move on quickly from its last loss and close its latest home stand with a focus on playing sharper.
“We’ll live to fight another day,” Holtmann said. “We’ve got a really difficult stretch coming up. Hopefully we can coach and play better the next time out. That’s our challenge.”
Tip-off between the Buckeyes and Hoosiers is at 7 p.m. in the Schottenstein Center. FS1 will broadcast.
