By Justin Albers
basketballss132002@yahoo.com
INDIANAPOLIS- The effort was there. IU competed all the way through, but in the end they came up short against the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus on Tuesday night.
The Hoosiers fell behind by 6 points early in the game and looked to be over matched by the unbelievable Ohio State talent. Then Indiana started doing what they do best, shooting three pointers. IU was 12-23 from beyond the ark in the game, 4 of them from freshman Joey Shaw. The Hoosiers stuck right with the Buckeyes for the entire first half and trailed 35-29 at the half.
The second half brought new life to the Hoosiers. Indiana scored 18 of the first 26 second half points, grabbing a 47-43 advantage with 12:08 remaining in regulation. Ohio State would grab the lead right back when they scored the next 6 points, 4 of them on free throws. Indiana stayed strong, but struggled to stop the Buckeyes on the offensive end. The turning point came with 6:13 remaining when Greg Oden picked up his fourth foul. Thad Matta was forced to pull him from the game, and leave the Hoosiers with an open opportunity. It didn't work to Indiana's advantage. Freshman point guard, Mike Conley Jr., took control of the game when Oden left, recording 2 points and 3 assists during that period. When Oden returned to the game he made four consecutive free throws with his left hand to put the Hoosiers away.
OPINION
The rest of the Big Ten season looks bright for Indiana after a solid performance on Tuesday night. While watching the game I noticed several things that seemed to plague Indiana. D.J. White tried to do too much and looked like he was trying to prove he wasn't afraid of Oden. Several times he missed point blank layups because of Oden's presence, but he was also fouled multiple times where it was not called. Next, the A.J. Ratliff injury really hurt. Ratliff has been playing good basketball of late, and he could have been a great help on the defensive end in this game. The biggest thing I saw that the Hoosiers didn't do a good job of was on the ball defense. I remember multiple times in the game where they didn't stop the ball and Ohio State ended up with easy baskets. The 2-3 zone worked well for most of the game, but the Buckeyes figured out that if they set a screen for the point guard then Indiana won't know how to guard it. Both teams were very well coached, Ohio State just had too much talent for Indiana to handle.
POSITIVES: The two leading scorers for the Hoosiers were freshman, Armon Bassett and Joey Shaw. They played extremely well in a tough environment against a good team, which bodes well for the rest of the season. Both players were very impressive on Tuesday night.
KEY PERFORMERS: OHIO STATE
Greg Oden 21 points 5 rebounds 30 minutes
Mike Conley Jr. 9 points 10 assists 31 minutes
Othello Hunter 14 points 6 rebounds 23 minutes
Daequan Cook 12 points 3 rebounds 27 minutes
KEY PERFORMERS: INDIANA
Joey Shaw 16 points 3 rebounds 23 minutes
Armon Bassett 13 points 4 rebounds 38 minutes
D.J. White 11 points 8 rebounds 36 minutes
Lance Stemler 11 points 2 rebounds 25 minutes
basketballss132002@yahoo.com
INDIANAPOLIS- The effort was there. IU competed all the way through, but in the end they came up short against the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus on Tuesday night.
The Hoosiers fell behind by 6 points early in the game and looked to be over matched by the unbelievable Ohio State talent. Then Indiana started doing what they do best, shooting three pointers. IU was 12-23 from beyond the ark in the game, 4 of them from freshman Joey Shaw. The Hoosiers stuck right with the Buckeyes for the entire first half and trailed 35-29 at the half.
The second half brought new life to the Hoosiers. Indiana scored 18 of the first 26 second half points, grabbing a 47-43 advantage with 12:08 remaining in regulation. Ohio State would grab the lead right back when they scored the next 6 points, 4 of them on free throws. Indiana stayed strong, but struggled to stop the Buckeyes on the offensive end. The turning point came with 6:13 remaining when Greg Oden picked up his fourth foul. Thad Matta was forced to pull him from the game, and leave the Hoosiers with an open opportunity. It didn't work to Indiana's advantage. Freshman point guard, Mike Conley Jr., took control of the game when Oden left, recording 2 points and 3 assists during that period. When Oden returned to the game he made four consecutive free throws with his left hand to put the Hoosiers away.
OPINION
The rest of the Big Ten season looks bright for Indiana after a solid performance on Tuesday night. While watching the game I noticed several things that seemed to plague Indiana. D.J. White tried to do too much and looked like he was trying to prove he wasn't afraid of Oden. Several times he missed point blank layups because of Oden's presence, but he was also fouled multiple times where it was not called. Next, the A.J. Ratliff injury really hurt. Ratliff has been playing good basketball of late, and he could have been a great help on the defensive end in this game. The biggest thing I saw that the Hoosiers didn't do a good job of was on the ball defense. I remember multiple times in the game where they didn't stop the ball and Ohio State ended up with easy baskets. The 2-3 zone worked well for most of the game, but the Buckeyes figured out that if they set a screen for the point guard then Indiana won't know how to guard it. Both teams were very well coached, Ohio State just had too much talent for Indiana to handle.
POSITIVES: The two leading scorers for the Hoosiers were freshman, Armon Bassett and Joey Shaw. They played extremely well in a tough environment against a good team, which bodes well for the rest of the season. Both players were very impressive on Tuesday night.
KEY PERFORMERS: OHIO STATE
Greg Oden 21 points 5 rebounds 30 minutes
Mike Conley Jr. 9 points 10 assists 31 minutes
Othello Hunter 14 points 6 rebounds 23 minutes
Daequan Cook 12 points 3 rebounds 27 minutes
KEY PERFORMERS: INDIANA
Joey Shaw 16 points 3 rebounds 23 minutes
Armon Bassett 13 points 4 rebounds 38 minutes
D.J. White 11 points 8 rebounds 36 minutes
Lance Stemler 11 points 2 rebounds 25 minutes
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