Indiana Digs Deep To Earn 77-76 Overtime Victory At Ohio State

Indiana puts its nightmarish two-game losing streak behind it with a key road win over the Buckeyes.

Todd Golden | Jan 20, 2025

Indiana Hoosiers guard Anthony Leal (3) high-fives his teammates in the first half at Value City Arena on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. / Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – In its last two games, Indiana got a failing grade in every aspect of its performance in consecutive 25-point losses to Iowa and Illinois.

On Friday at Ohio State, Indiana got a passing grade for effort, but it was an open question until the bitter end as to whether they would pass the test to finish the Buckeyes off.

It took overtime, but the Hoosiers did just that. A defensive stop on the final possession of overtime helped Indiana earn a 77-76 victory at Ohio State – their fourth victory in a row over the Buckeyes.

More importantly, it broke that nightmarish two-game losing streak and gave Indiana some positive momentum.

For the second year in a row at Value City Arena, Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton missed a shot at the buzzer that could have won the game for Ohio State.

Instead? For the second year in a row, the Hoosiers celebrated a road victory in Columbus.

Luke Goode led Indiana (14-5, 5-3) with 23 points as he made 4 of 7 from 3-point range, including the go-ahead shot with 1:07 left in overtime. Oumar Ballo had 21 points and 15 rebounds.

💥 23 PTS (career high)
💥 7-14 FG
💥 5-5 FT
💥 3 REB

Luke Goode had a career night in @IndianaMBB’s OT win against OSU 👏#B1GMBBall pic.twitter.com/s0TeRVeFNQ
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 18, 2025

Indiana trailed by six at halftime, but an infusion of scoring from Goode made a big difference in the second half as the Hoosiers took command of the game.

Goode scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half and the extra period.

"He got some good looks. They were doubling Ballo and kind of set it up on the back side that he could get the looks and he knocked some shots down for us. Some big shots. We needed everyone of them. They were huge that he made," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said.

"It's a big credit to my teammates. They did a great job in finding me. I hit the first couple shots and they did a good job of reading the defense. Once you see one go down as a shooter, you get pretty confident," Goode said on his second-half outburst.

Indiana took the lead for the first time with 14:18 left in regulation. Ohio State led by two with 9:30 left when the Hoosiers took the lead seemingly for good. A 13-1 run gave Indiana a 68-58 lead 5:12 left in the game.

Then the Hoosiers seized up. Ohio State used a full-court press that forced Indiana into a turnover and out of its rhythm. The Hoosiers did not convert a field goal in the final 3:27 of regulation, and a 3-pointer by Ohio State’s John Mobley Jr. tied the game with 38 seconds left.

Both teams had a shot to end the game in regulation, but neither connected. Galloway partly blocked an Evan Mahaffey baseline jumper on the final possession to force overtime.

By this point, Indiana had ridden a lineup the featured Ballo, Goode, Galloway and some combination of Anthony Leal, Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle. Goode played 41 minutes and Ballo notched 40 minutes. It was the highest career minute total for Goode and the second-highest for Ballo.

"You've got to find a way. I played 25 straight minutes and I had to find a way," Ballo said. "I was not tired to a point where I can't go no more. I always have to dig deeper. My teammates needed me on the floor. There was no way I was going to let them down."

Neither team led by more than the margin of a possession in overtime. After Indiana’s Myles Rice missed a layup with 1:12 left, the loose ball fell to Goode, who buried a 3-pointer from the right wing to put Indiana up 77-76.

After both teams missed chances, Ohio State (10-8, 2-5) had the last possession. Indiana’s Anthony Leal swatted the ball out of Mobley’s hands on a shot with three seconds left, but the loose ball rolled to a wide-open Thornton on the arc. His last-second heave swirled out and Indiana got a gutty win.

Indiana had challenges to overcome. The Hoosiers did not have the services of Malik Reneau for the fourth straight game. Reneau injured his knee against Rutgers on Jan. 2. Added to the Indiana injury list was reserve guard Bryson Tucker. His absence cut down on the Hoosiers’ depth.

Ohio State was not at full strength, either. Second-leading scorer Devin Royal (13.8 ppg) also missed the game.

Indiana was not missing either Ballo or Rice. Both players started the game as they avoided any serious Big Ten or internal sanction for their part in a late-game confrontation with Illinois on Tuesday.

Woodson did tweak the starting lineup. Anthony Leal started in Galloway’s place. It was just the third start of Leal’s career.

"I wanted to shake things up a bit and I thought he answered the bell," Woodson said. "He had a big three last year and coming down the stretch tonight he made a great defensive stop to help us get another victory."

Indiana slowed down the offensive pace in the first half, but the Hoosiers could not identify a second scorer to go along with Ballo.

For a while, Ballo was enough as both teams were slow to get into gear. Indiana had an early 10-7 lead as Ballo scored six of those points.

However, Indiana bogged down as no one else contributed scoring. Take Ballo’s 5-for-8 first half shooting out of the equation and the rest of the Hoosiers converted 5 of 22 from the field. Goode was the only Hoosier besides Ballo to have more than one bucket. Mackenzie Mgbako and Galloway combined to go 0-for-8 from the floor in the first half.

Eventually, Ohio State took advantage. The Buckeyes broke a 22-22 deadlock with 6:34 left in the half with an 8-2 run to take a six-point lead.

What followed was a kind of inert stand-off. Indiana couldn’t muster much offense to make a comeback, but the Buckeyes couldn’t push the struggling Hoosiers out of the way either. Ohio State settled for a 35-29 halftime advantage.

Although Indiana surged ahead in the second half, it would take the Hoosiers an overtime that ended with a final defensive stand to get the win.

Indiana stays on the road as it heads to Northwestern on Wednesday.

"We had to put (the two 25-point losses) behind us. I tip my hat to our team. They could have laid down and they didn't," Woodson said.

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