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Hoosiers hold off Ohio State

Jan 10, 2015 - 10:00 PM Bloomington, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Yogi Ferrell made four free throws in the final minute to help Indiana earn a 69-66 victory over 22nd-ranked Ohio State on Saturday at Assembly Hall.

Ohio State trailed the entire second half, but had possession down 65-62 after an Indiana shot-clock violation. Marc Loving air-balled a 3-point try and Sam Thompson corralled the rebound under the basket. He was fouled while making a layup with 32.1 seconds to play, but missed the free throw.

Ferrell sank two from the line with 21.9 seconds left to extend the Indiana edge to three and D'Angelo Russell made two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining to again pull Ohio State within a point.

The Hoosiers got the ball in to Ferrell and the Big Ten's best free throw shooter rattled two home for a three-point advantage before Russell's long three drew iron as time expired.

"He got a pretty decent look," said Ohio State coach Thad Matta about the last shot. "D'Angelo has shown he can knock those down."

Ferrell, despite a 1-for-8 effort from the field, finished with 10 points for the Hoosiers (12-4, 2-1 Big Ten), who played their conference home opener after a win at Nebraska and a 20-point loss at Michigan State to open the Big Ten ledger.

Freshman James Blackmon Jr. led Indiana with 18 points and Troy Williams contributed 15 with 12 rebounds.

"That was a hard-fought victory and we knew it would be," said Indiana coach Tom Crean. "Any time you're playing Ohio State, you're going to have to play through a lot of things. You're going to have to play through some momentum swings and you're going to have to play through some lulls."

Shannon Scott scored 16 and Russell added 13 for the Buckeyes (13-4, 2-2), who had beaten Minnesota and Illinois after dropping their conference opener against Iowa. Thompson and Jae'Sean Tate each netted 12 points in defeat.

Ohio State raced out to a 9-2 lead and held a 13-9 advantage after a 3-pointer by Scott, but Indiana followed with a 17-2 run. Ferrell's only made field goal of the game, a triple, gave the Hoosiers a 17-15 lead and a pair of free throws by Hanner Mosquera-Perea capped the burst for a 26-15 cushion with 6:15 left in the first half.

The Buckeyes trimmed the deficit to six at the break and pulled within 34-31 early in the second half before Blackmon scored five straight for an eight- point Indiana margin.

Ohio State again rallied and cut it to 51-48 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining after Russell followed a Scott jumper with a steal and a dunk. A Thompson layup three minutes later made it a two-point game, but Indiana responded with eight straight to again pull away.

Blackmon scored five of those points, first stemming the Ohio State momentum with a jumper and ending the spurt with a three-point play to give the Hoosiers a 61-51 advantage with 3 1/2 minutes to play.

Back came Ohio State, as Thompson scored five in a 9-2 run to pull the Buckeyes within 63-60.

Game Notes

Loving, the Big Ten's top 3-point shooter entering the game at 54.5 percent, missed each of his five attempts from beyond the arc and scored just seven points in defeat ... The Buckeyes made just 3-of-21 from 3-point range ... The Hoosiers entered the contest averaging 82.9 points per game, but have not scored more than 70 in any of their three Big Ten games ... Indiana improved to 103-76 all-time against Ohio State, including 63-24 in Bloomington ... The Hoosiers will next host Penn State on Tuesday ... Ohio State returns home to welcome Michigan on Tuesday.