Ohio State Holds Off Indiana for Much-Needed Win
D.J. Carton's absence from Ohio State will open opportunities for others to step forward for however long the dynamic freshman guard stays away from the team to tend to his mental health.
Justin Ahrens and C.J. Walker stepped forward as the Buckeyes' first volunteers to offer more on Saturday against Indiana.
Walker, shouldering more responsibility now that he doesn't share primary play-making duties with Carton, scored 14 points and four assists and Ahrens offered three crucial three-point field goals in the second half of OSU's 68-59 victory.
The win avenged a 66-54 loss in Bloomington three weeks ago and raised the Buckeyes to 14-7 and 4-6 in the Big Ten.
More importantly, it steadied OSU amid the jolt of Carton's announced departure on Thursday night, just four days after he led the Buckeyes to a win at Northwestern.
Ahrens came up big in that game, too, and essentially sealed Indiana's fate with triples on successive possessions that expanded Ohio State's lead to 58-40 with eight minutes left.
He threw in another jumper from deep on the left wing at 6:06 to balloon the lead to 19 and launch the Buckeyes into a challenging week of games Tuesday at Michigan and Sunday at Wisconsin with some much-needed confidence.
Kaleb Wesson scored 15 points and had 11 rebounds.
Ahrens scored 11.
Late in the first half, OSU strayed from its emphasis on getting the ball inside and scored only four points over the final six minutes.The Buckeyes still held a nine-point edge at the break, but the margin should have been much larger, if only because of a bad mistake just before the buzzer.
In front by 12 and in possession off a defensive rebound with 20 seconds left, the Buckeyes failed to get off the final shot when Andre Wesson tried to make a move out front and traveled with 2.1 seconds left.
Indiana, predictably, capitalized at the horn on Devonte Green's three-pointer from just inside mid-court.
That cut OSU's edge to 31-22, but the real damage came via 2-for-7 shooting and three turnovers over the last 6:13.
Four of those seven shots came from beyond the arc, a questionable option given OSU built its lead by going inside to Wesson, Young and its guards off back cuts to the basket.
But Luther Muhammad, C.J. Walker, Duane Washington and Andre Wesson each missed a 3-point attempt over that span, and only Walker didn't turn it over among that group during Ohio State's struggles to close the half.
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