The No. 14 Ohio State Buckeyes marched into Indiana and knocked off the No. 2 Hoosiers 67-58 on their home floor. With the win, Ohio State pulled ahead of the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines in the Big Ten standings by a half game.
Ohio State was led by guards Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft who each logged 37 minutes in the win. Thomas led the Buckeyes with 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field and a 5-of-6 performance from the charity stripe. He also grabbed eight rebounds. Craft scored 15 points and added four rebounds four assists and four steals, while playing the role of marksman; he was 7-of-10 from the floor.
After the game, Craft said ''Whatever else goes on outside the floor, it's a basketball game,'' Craft said. ''Where we were a couple weeks ago and where we are now, that just makes us appreciate this a little more.'' On February 10th, when Indiana was still ranked No. 1, they wiped Ohio State out 81-68. In that game, Indiana center Cody Zeller ate the Buckeyes alive inside, dropping 24 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and only missing three shots. This time Zeller only scored 17 points and was limited to nine attempts.
The Buckeyes also controlled Victor Oladipo, holding him to just seven points on 3-of-6 shooting. Oladipo was frustrated all game-he committed four turnovers and eventually fouled out.
Prior to tipoff, Oladipo and Zeller were honored for joining Indiana's 1,000-point scorer club. The loss came on their Senior Night and they cut the nets down after the game despite falling short. "Obviously, we didn't like to lose, but we earned that right to cut down the nets. We would have liked to have won but we couldn't dwell on that," senior Jordan Hulls said following the game.
Ohio State can earn a share of the Big Ten regular season title if Michigan can beat Indiana in their regular season finale.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.