Entering its regular season finale, Indiana men’s basketball remained on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament. After suffering its second four-game losing streak of the season, the Hoosiers dominated Minnesota by 30 in its penultimate contest Wednesday.
The Cream and Crimson’s final matchup of the season came against another team whose NCAA Tournament fate remains uncertain. Indiana trailed for over 36 minutes and fell 91-78 to Ohio State on Saturday inside the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Senior forward Sam Alexis slammed home the game’s first points before fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson added a trio of free throws to take an early five-point lead.
But the Buckeyes responded with a 6-0 run to grab the game’s only lead change. Sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. and freshman forward Amare Bynum scored Ohio State's first eight points of the game.
Within a minute, the Buckeyes began another spurt. Mobley drilled an and-one 3-pointer to cap off an 8-0 run that put Ohio State ahead 16-8 after five and a half minutes.
As the half wore on, Indiana couldn’t contain the Buckeyes’ offense. Ohio State went on additional runs of 6-0, 5-0 and 8-0 as it took control of the contest.
A 3-point shooting disparity marred the Hoosiers’ first half. While Ohio State poured in eight longballs in the first 20 minutes, Indiana hit just a single shot from beyond the arc.
Indiana converted 46.4% of its attempts from the field, but the Buckeyes shot a staggering 67.9% in the first half. Ohio State boasted three double digit scorers — Bynum, Mobley and senior guard Bruce Thornton — to enter halftime with a 50-33 lead.
The final frame of the Cream and Crimson’s regular season brought many of the same problems.
Ohio State quickly extended its lead beyond 20 points, with Thornton and Mobley continuing to lead the Buckeyes’ efficient attack. The pair added 13 and 7 points, respectively, in the second half.
At the under-16 timeout, the Hoosiers trailed by 23 points. Four minutes later, they were down 22.
While Wilkerson and redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries provided bursts of offense, it wasn’t consistent enough to chip into Ohio State’s lead. Wilkerson, who entered the game seven 3-pointers shy of the Indiana single season record, shot just 2 for 6 from beyond the arc.
The Cream and Crimson only got within 10 points in the final 10 minutes of action, falling 91-78 in their regular season finale.
Wilkerson finished with a team-high 18 points, while DeVries added 17. Alexis notched 14 points and redshirt senior guard Conor Enright dished five assists.
With the loss, Indiana concluded its regular season with an 18-13 record, winning only nine out of 20 conference matchups. The Hoosiers will enter the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 10 seed and will play at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday inside the United Center in Chicago against the winner of Tuesday’s No. 18 vs. No. 15 contest.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
