Lack of ‘D’ contributes to men's basketball's 11th loss

As agitated as IU coach Tom Crean and the Hoosier fan base appeared toward the referees, the numbers don’t lie: The Hoosiers’ inability to stop Ohio State’s offense is what doomed them.

Ohio State’s 93 points were both the most the team scored all season and the most points the Hoosiers have given up. The final score: 93-81.

The Buckeyes (15-5, 5-4) shot over 50 percent from the floor in the first half, courtesy of Evan Turner, William Buford, Jon Diebler and Jeremie Simmons.

Save two free throws, the four players were the Buckeyes’ only scorers.

The assertive scoring from Ohio State cut its 12-point deficit down to just two at halftime.
Ohio State greatly improved in the second frame. The Buckeyes made 16-of-21 baskets, 7-of-9 behind the arc in the second half. In total, the team shot 76.2 percent in the second half to coast to victory.

Crean said Ohio State in particular has the ability to exploit the Hoosiers’ shortcomings.

“We don’t match up real well with a lot of teams in this conference, but OSU, it comes out that much more,” Crean said. “That much more of a challenge for us, they have some really, really good players.”

Trying to avoid a repeat performance of the game in Columbus, Ohio, Crean utilized a box-and-one defense to try to neutralize sharp-shooter Jon Diebler.

But when IU went to the defensive set, the other Buckeyes were able to get easy buckets, and when they broke away, Diebler found open looks.

“They have numerous ways to beat you on the court,” Crean said. “And that’s why you’ve got to keep throwing different things at them.”

The biggest mismatch for IU (5-15, 0-8) was Turner. The 6-foot-7 sophomore played like a guard, and his combination of size and quickness overwhelmed the Hoosiers throughout the game.

Turner matched IU freshman Matt Roth’s 29 points with 29 of his own – though his came with free-throw shooting and driving to the hoop rather than hitting nine 3-pointers as Roth did.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta credited Turner’s offensive creativity for the sophomore’s big game.

“ET was good at moving without the basketball,” Matta said. “He had a little bit of a size advantage sometimes or a quickness advantage at times just on matchups, and he did a pretty decent job getting inside the defense and also getting to the foul line. He’s pretty creative and crafty, and I thought the things that we were looking to run were pretty effective for him, putting him in a position to make plays.”

IU senior Kyle Taber said he didn’t notice any major adjustments Ohio State made at the half – his team simply couldn’t stop the Buckeye playmakers.

“They did a good job of penetrating, and we didn’t do a good job of containing Evan Turner and Buford,” Taber said. “They got some easy layups. I think if we controlled the dribble a little better it would have helped with their kick-outs and all the layups we gave up.”