It’s finally a true must-win game when Ohio State plays at Indiana on Saturday in their regular-season finale in Bloomington, Ind.
The term is often overused and meaningless until it actually matters. Now it’s March and it matters for the Hoosiers (18-12, 9-10 Big Ten) and the Buckeyes (17-13, 9-10), both nationally and within the conference.
Each team is on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament and a victory would be invaluable, particularly for the Hoosiers, who would then own the head-to-head after defeating Ohio State 77-76 in overtime on the road on Jan. 17.
“This league deserves a lot of teams in the NCAA Tournament,” Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said. “If you finish close to .500 in this league, you’re finishing the year with some really impressive wins.”
The winner also secures the No. 9 seed for the conference tournament and receives a first-round bye.
This will be the final home game for fourth-year coach and former Hoosiers standout Mike Woodson. The school announced Feb. 7 that he was stepping down at the end of the season.
Indiana improved its fortunes following the announcement and had won three straight until a 73-64 loss at Oregon on Tuesday in which the Hoosiers were outrebounded by seven, to the chagrin of Indiana assistant coach Brian Walsh.
“If you want to win in March, you’ve got to be a little nastier on the boards,” Walsh said.
A key to beating the Buckeyes is getting Mackenzie Mgbako (12.3 points per game) and Myles Rice (10.7) going again. They were a combined 3 for 17 from the floor for 12 points against Oregon.
Ohio State kept its NCAA dreams alive with a 116-114 double-overtime win vs. Nebraska on Tuesday behind 29 points and nine assists for Bruce Thornton.
“Everybody knows what the goal is,” Thornton said. “But this team has so much fight. We don’t give up at all. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are.”
He leads the team in scoring with a 17.8 average but has support in Devin Royal (13.6), John Mobley Jr. (13.4) and Micah Parrish (13.0).
–Field Level Media
