Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers defeat Buckeyes, 67-60
1/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
January 22, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Solid defense and timely shooting continue to ring true for the Indiana men's basketball team. The Hoosiers have now won four straight and seven of their last eight, including a 67-60 victory over Ohio State in the Assembly Hall on Saturday. IU improved to 9-7 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten with the victory, while the Buckeyes fell to 12-7 and 1-4 in conference action.
Junior guard Bracey Wright scored 12 straight Hoosier points during a stretch in the second half after Ohio State had taken its first lead of the game. On the night, Wright finished with 23 points, including 18 in the second half, to go along with a team-high seven rebounds and four assists.
Freshman forward D.J. White added 15 points and three blocks for the Hoosiers. Junior guard Marshall Strickland and sophomore Pat Ewing, Jr. added six rebounds apiece in the win.
After Indiana opened its largest lead at 10, 33-23, following a D.J. White baseline jumper just 20 seconds into the second half, Ohio State responded with a 14-2 run and hit nine of its first 11 shots in the second stanza. Ivan Harris caped the run, giving Ohio State its first lead of the game, 37-35, with 15:18 remaining on a trey from the leftwing.
Wright answered Harris 22 seconds later with a three of his own from the right wing, as the Hoosiers retook the lead at 38-37. A pair of Stockman jumpers on Ohio State's next two possessions opened up the biggest lead of the night for the Buckeyes at 41-38 with 14:06 remaining.
It was again Wright with the answer for the Hoosiers as his dribble, drive and jumper in the lane pulled IU within one. On the play, the junior guard was fouled and hit the free throw to even it up.
After a bucket in the paint by OSU center Terence Dials that allowed the Buckeyes to regain the lead, Wright answered once again. He hit a three-pointer from the left side to give Indiana the lead for good at 44-43 at the 13:12 mark. Wright added a conventional three-point play with a jumper and free throw capping a run of 12 straight points for The Colony, Texas, native.
The two teams traded buckets with Indiana pushing its lead to as much as six, 55-49, following a pair of Wright free throws. Ohio State again bounced back and cut the lead down to one, 55-54, after Harris hit his third three of the game with 4:50 remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Wright fed sophomore Pat Ewing, Jr. in the post for a big dunk to bring the Hoosier faithful to their feet. A few possession later with the score 57-54, the Hoosiers ran the same play this time with White, who missed time in the second half with cramps, on an emphatic dunk off a Wright pass. Indiana hit all eight of its free throw attempts over the final 1:09 of the ball game to wrap up a 67-60 victory.
The Hoosiers followed White's lead to a 31-23 halftime advantage. The Tuscaloosa, Ala., native scored 11of his 15 points in the first half on five-of-eight shooting. The Hoosiers were aided in the first half by the long ball. Indiana hit five-of-nine shots from behind the arch in the first stanza compared to two-of-10 for the Buckeyes.
Dials finished with a double-double for the Buckeyes, 18 points and 13 rebounds. Stockman and Harris were the only other Buckeyes in double figures with 14 and 11, respectively.
Indiana returns to the road for a pair of conference games next week. The Hoosiers travel to Minneapolis to battle Minnesota Golden Gophers on Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. The Cream and Crimson will then battle No. 24/23 Iowa in Iowa City at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Minnesota game will be on ESPN Plus, while the Iowa game can be seen on ESPN. Both affairs can be heard on the IU Radio Network with Don Fischer (p-b-p), Todd Leary (color) and Joe Smith (pre game, halftime, post game) on the call.
