Sam Alexis stepped up to the free throw line.
After driving to the basket and drawing the foul, the senior forward converted his free throw attempt to cut the deficit to 10 with 3:24 remaining on the clock.
For the first time in the second half, Indiana men’s basketball had some life. The Hoosiers were the closest they had been to Ohio State since just under five minutes remained in the first half.
In a contest dominated by Ohio State, it was the first time the game felt worth watching.
Well, for a second.
Ohio State junior forward Devin Royal converted a four-point play just seconds later to put the Buckeyes back up 14 points. And just like that, Indiana’s momentum was gone.
It was the dagger in the Hoosiers’ eventual 91-78 loss to Ohio State on Saturday at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Many expected an interesting game between two bubble teams fighting for their NCAA Tournament life. After all, the Hoosiers were riding the momentum of a victory over Minnesota and had a Quad 1 opportunity right in from of them. Surely, they would come out ready to play and compete.
That was not the case.
Besides getting out to an early 5-0 lead over the Buckeyes, the Hoosiers trailed for nearly 37 minutes of the contest. After allowing multiple runs throughout the first half, Indiana found itself facing a 17-point halftime deficit.
It was a hole the Cream and Crimson simply could not dig themselves out of.
“We want to put ourselves in a position to win the game, and for us to have a stretch like that, it's certainly disappointing,” head coach Darian DeVries said postgame.
It was a game Indiana needed to win and had every capability to do so. Yet it didn’t. So now what? How do the Hoosiers move forward?
“Post-season play, it's just you get ready for that next one, and you play as long as you can, and win as many games as you can, and that's going to be our mindset,” DeVries said. “So, worry about the one in front of you. The one in front of us is going to be Wednesday, and that's really all we care about at this point.”
The regular season is over. Now all that lies ahead is post-season play. Since the Hoosiers’ NCAA Tournament life is questionable, only one game is guaranteed.
Indiana understands the magnitude of the games that lie ahead. The Hoosiers are playing for their season. Despite the recent losses, they believe in themselves heading into post-season play.
“I think we just have a lot of motivation to come into the Big Ten Tournament and show what we really can do,” senior forward Reed Bailey said. “I mean, just having that bad taste in your mouth, I think it's motivation enough to really come out and try and make a run.”
“Bad taste in your mouth” would be a good way to describe how the Hoosiers have ended the season. Indiana lost five of its last six games. And after every loss, the same message remains. They are going to continue to fight.
“But our guys are going to continue to battle, that's all I know,” DeVries said. “So, we're going to get home, we're going to get ready for our next game.”
Yes, they have belief. Yes, they say they’re going to battle and fight. But these sentiments have been echoed repeatedly over the last month. And yet, the results still aren’t transpiring.
They know what is at stake. They’re battling and continue to say they’re battling.
But if it hasn’t been enough in the Hoosiers’ last stretch of important games, it’s really unlikely it’s going to be enough in the post-season.
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.
