COLUMBUS, Ohio — Indiana basketball and Ohio State went down to the wire for a second straight year at the Schottenstein Center.
The Buckeyes erased a 10-point lead in the final five minutes and John Mobley Jr. hit a 3-pointer to force overtime with 40 seconds to go.
After four lead changes, Indiana forward Luke Goode capped off a career-night with the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:07 left on the clock in overtime to help his team escape with a 77-76 win. It was a much needed victory for a Hoosiers team (14-5; 5-3 Big Ten) that had been blown out in their previous two games.
Goode, who had a career-high 23 points, had the hot hand to start the second half and his energy gave IU a much-needed boost. He scored 11 points in less than eight minutes coming out of halftime and hit three straight 3-point attempts to put IU back on top, 43-41, with 15:08 to go after trailing for nearly 18 game minutes.
Ohio State (10-8; 2-5) initially kept pace mostly thanks to Mobley Jr. — all five of his 3-pointers came in the second half — but the Hoosiers pushed the lead to double-digits with Trey Galloway and Kanaan Carlyle knocking down clutch shots.
Carlyle was as focused and determined as he’s been all season. He’s remained an asset on defense throughout a season-long shooting slump, but he looked more like the standout two-way player he was at Stanford on Friday night.
He attacked the rim and scored on a series of acrobatic layups over the final 10 minutes to finish with 12 points, his first game in double-digits since IU’s loss to Gonzaga back on November 28. He was also tasked with guarding OSU leading scorer Bruce Thornton, who was his former high school teammate.
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Indiana basketball was short-handed in Columbus
Malik Reneau (knee) missed his fifth straight game on Friday night and Bryson Tucker joined him on the injury report with an apparent finger injury. He made the trip to Columbus, but sat out and was wearing a brace on his right pinkie finger.
That left IU with nine scholarship players dressed out and one of those was the oft-injured Jakai Newton. He’s been listed on the injury report for much of the season and only played 18 total minutes across four games.
Indiana also played much of the first half without starting point guard Myles Rice, who picked up two fouls in the opening five minutes of the game and went straight to the bench for the remainder of the half.
He had to come out again after picking up his third foul with 18:06 to go in the game.
Indiana basketball’s offensive firepower MIA in the first half against OSU
Indiana was lucky to only be trailing 35-29 at halftime against the Buckeyes. The Hoosiers went into the break 10 of 30 from the field and 1 of 9 from 3-point range. They missed six straight shot attempts while going the final 4:01 of the half without a made field goal.
Their offense didn’t pack much of a punch beyond running a little pick and pop action in the paint for Oumar Ballo. Ohio State didn’t have anybody with the size who could match up with the 7-foot-0, 260-pound center and the 10 points he scored in the half all came in the paint.
He finished the game with 21 points and 15 rebounds for his third straight double-double and fifth in six games.
Mackenzie Mgbako (0 for 3 in the first half) and played limited minutes in the second half for the fourth straight game. He didn’t play in overtime either and finished the game with six points.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
