Buckeyes Roundball Roundup: Stifled Northwestern, Embarrassed at Indiana

For Ohio State, there was quite a difference between their two games this past week. While they got their first true road win of the season at Northwestern, the Buckeyes were embarrassed at Indiana. Their blowout loss in Bloomington ended the Buckeyes seven-game winning streak and was their first conference loss of the season. OSU is now 1-2 on the road, with two blowout losses and a tough win at Northwestern.

Let’s take a look.

Buckeyes defense comes up big in 65-56 win at Northwestern

To start the week, Ohio State did what they were supposed to do against a mediocre Northwestern team. The Bucks were heavy favorites Wednesday night despite being on the road, and ended up beating the Wildcats, 65-56. In their first true road game since losing to Connecticut on December 12, Ohio State’s defense came ready to play at Northwestern.

Once again, however, Ohio State struggled at times in the first half. Holding a 26-17 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the half, the Buckeyes allowed Northwestern to go on a 10-0 run and take a 27-26 lead into halftime. It turned out to be a tale of two halves for Ohio State. Trailing by one at the break, they outscored the Wildcats 39-29 in the second 20 minutes to get the road victory. Like they have for the majority of their winning streak, the Bucks defense stifled their opposition, holding Northwestern to just 31 percent shooting, including just 24 percent from behind the arc.

Although they won by nine, Ohio State’s struggles at the free throw line continued Wednesday. They made just 45 percent (10-of-22) from the charity stripe against the Wildcats, something that must improve once they play better competition in the Big Ten.

Trevor Thompson recorded a quick double-double, with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes. Kam Williams, who came off the bench, started off hot and didn’t let up, hitting 8-of-13 shots (5-of-9 from three-point range) and scoring a team-high 21 points. The sophomore said that he felt good from the moment he arrived in Evanston.

“I know I can get hot anywhere,” Williams said. “It felt that way as soon as we got off the plane and came here. I knew I was going to have a hot hand.”

Head coach Thad Matta realized that his best pure shooter was feeling it right away, and wanted the rest of Williams’ teammates to find him, no matter where he was.

“The biggest thing was just telling guys, ‘Hey find him. Find him,'” Matta said.

Outside of Williams and Thompson, Marc Loving (10 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal) also scored in double-digits for the Bucks.

Ohio State doesn’t come ready to play, gets embarrassed at Indiana, 85-60

Another slow start, but this time the Buckeyes dug themselves in way too big of a hole, as they were blown out by the Hoosiers in Bloomington Sunday afternoon.

In a first half that began with a 10-0 Indiana run (and which included a separate 24-6 run), Ohio State wasn’t able to make a shot from the field for almost nine minutes. The Hoosiers took a 48-18 lead into the locker room, all but securing the win just halfway through the game. The Buckeyes outscored Indiana, 42-37, in the final 20 minutes, but the deficit was far too wide. Ohio State went on to lose its first conference game of the season, 85-60.

It was almost like the Bucks didn’t come to play in the first half, and it showed. They were outplayed, out-hustled, out-rebounded, and obviously outscored — by a lot. They shot just 28 percent in the first half, while getting outrebounded 50-31. They also committed 11 turnovers, which Indiana converted into 17 points, in the opening 20 minutes.

One of the only bright spots for the scarlet and gray was JaQuan Lyle, who scored 29 points (24 in the second half) while grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out three assists, and also getting three steals. Marc Loving (12 points, four rebounds) was the only other Buckeye to score in double figures.

The 83 points Indiana scored Sunday were the most Ohio State has allowed all season. The previous season high for an opponent was 82 (Louisiana Tech on November 24).

Coming up this week:

Wednesday vs. Rutgers (6-11), 6:30 p.m. ET

Saturday at No. 3 Maryland (15-1), 12:00 p.m. ET