Ohio State Likely Clinches NCAA Tournament Berth With 91-78 Win Over Indiana
Bruce Thornton broke records, and Ohio State likely broke its way into its first NCAA Tournament in four years on Saturday.
With Ohio State (20-11, 12-8 Big Ten) firmly on the right side of the bubble and needing a victory to likely lock down its Big Dance bid, Thornton and company came out with appropriate fervor and rolled past Indiana (18-13, 9-11) 91-76.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| INDIANA | 33 | 45 | 78 |
| OHIO STATE | 50 | 41 | 91 |
Thornton, fittingly, led the way with a 25-point outing and seven assists. Freshman forward Amare Bynum had one of the best performances of his young career, scoring 14 points in the first half to help Ohio State build its initial lead in an 18-point performance. John Mobley Jr. tacked on 18 more points, with Devin Royal (12 points) and Taison Chatman (11) also in double-figures.
Guard Lamar Wilkerson paced the Hoosiers in a losing effort, scoring 18 points of his own.
First Half
Indiana jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but Mobley and Bynum were quick to spark a run in response. Mobley collected two free throws and a pull-up mid-range jumper before Bynum stole a Hoosier pass and took it the other way for a two-handed slam.
Bynum put on a nice series of dribble moves to get to the rack for a second layup, then Thornton placed himself with 10 points of the scoring record by stealing an in-bounds pass after a Christoph Tilly layup and laying it in for Ohio State’s first multi-score lead. Then Mobley shattered his defender’s ankles with a crossover, stepped back and hit a 3-pointer through a foul for a four-point play. The Buckeyes were up 16-8.
A pair of 3-pointers from Taison Chatman and Bynum helped maintain the lead through the under-12 media timeout, Chatman’s coming off a lucky bounce from a missed dunk over the entire Indiana defense by Bynum. A layup through a foul by Tilly pushed the advantage to 11 and a Thornton three kept it there.
But then Indiana launched an 8-0 run as Ohio State struggled to get good looks on offense. Hoosier forward Nick Dorn contributed a triple as the lead was sliced all the way to 28-25 before Chatman stopped the bleeding with a corner 3-pointer. Then Bynum got to work rebuilding the edge.
He converted an alley-oop with a pretty finish off a pass from Thornton, then got around his defender for a one-handed slam a couple of possessions later. A massive block from behind by Bynum of Indiana’s Reed Bailey led to a long, long-range triple from Mobley, and the Buckeyes led by 11 once more, then Bynum capped his climactic stretch with his own 3-pointer for a 43-29 Ohio State lead.
Then Thornton hit a layup. Then he drained a 3-pointer to send the Buckeyes into halftime with a 50-33 lead and break the all-time scoring record at Ohio State.
THE SHOT
Your new All-Time leading scorer, Bruce Thornton. pic.twitter.com/cljwRK29nY
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) March 7, 2026
Second Half
It took less than two minutes for Ohio State to push its lead to 20 points coming out of halftime. Indiana never got back within striking distance.
| PENN STATE | STAT | OHIO STATE |
|---|---|---|
| 78 | POINTS | 91 |
| 28-51 (55%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 29-49 (59%) |
| 5-18 (28%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 11-24 (46%) |
| 17-21 (81%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 22-25 (88%) |
| 12 | TURNOVERS | 11 |
| 21 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 24 |
| 5 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 4 |
| 16 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 20 |
| 14 | BENCH POINTS | 11 |
| 1 | BLOCKS | 2 |
| 6 | STEALS | 6 |
| 15 | ASSISTS | 12 |
Devin Royal hit a fadeaway jumper and Tilly got to the hoop for a layup and a foul to push things to 56-36. A Mobley 3-pointer soon shoved the advantage to 23, then a Chatman triple stuck it back there.
Indiana did eventually start eating into the lead. Tucker DeVries nailed a 3-pointer, Wilkerson followed with one of his own and DeVries tacked on a floater to cut the Hoosiers’ deficit down to 71-56. But the clock was running out for a serious comeback effort.
Eight made free throws by the Buckeyes bobbled their lead around 15 as the clock bled under five minutes to play. Wilkerson hit a jumper and DeVries strung four points together to make it an 81-70 ballgame as Jake Diebler called a timeout. Thornton got to the rack to re-extend the edge to 13.
Indiana cut things to 10 once more, but a Royal 3-pointer through a foul created a four-point play and Bynum slammed back a missed shot to put Ohio State up 89-73 with 2:22 remaining, effectively icing the game.
What’s Next?
Ohio State waits to find out its seeding for the Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes clinched a double-bye with their win, but with a UCLA loss later tonight, they will move up from the No. 8 seed to the No. 7 seed in the conference tourney.
Game Notes
- Bruce Thornton passed former guard Shannon Scott for third all-time at Ohio State in assists, in addition to breaking the scoring record.
- Ohio State improves to 85-112 all-time against Indiana.
- Jake Diebler won yet another challenge on an out-of-bounds ball late in the first half. He’s only lost one all season.
First Appeared on
Source link
