Ohio State dominates IU

Ohio State coach Thad Matta took a timeout 47 seconds in the first half, after junior guard Jeremiah Rivers’ dunk.

The 30-second speech worked.

The Buckeyes went on an early 29-6 run and IU shot 30 percent from the field in the first half.  In the end, the Hoosiers fell 79-54 in their Big Ten road opener. 

“We played like a team in its first road game, and that’s disappointing,” IU coach Tom Crean said.

Ohio State’s players hit almost twice as many field goals as IU did in their first 20 minutes. The Buckeyes also doubled the Hoosiers’ 3-point percentage, hitting half of their shots from downtown.  IU had 14 turnovers in the first half, compared to six for Ohio State.

The Hoosiers finished with 34 percent field goal percentage, 22.2 percent 3-point percentage and 24 turnovers.

Despite the low numbers, Crean said he cared more about the team’s lack of unity.

“Our lack of togetherness is what I'm concerned about,” Crean said.

After a 71-65 win against Michigan in its Big Ten opener, IU failed to carry the momentum on the road.

In its first conference away game and second game without freshman guard Maurice Creek, the team collapsed against an opponent who had been ranked No. 15 as of last week.

IU could not compete against double-teams and pressure from the Buckeyes.

“That toughness you've got to bring to one another, that grit, we don’t have that yet,” Crean said. “We’ve got to develop that.”

But the Hoosiers will also need to improve their offense if they hope to compete in the Big Ten.

 No IU player who had more than one field goal shot more than 50 percent. Except for freshman forward Christian Watford with 11 points and sophomore guard Verdell Jones with 22 points, no player had more than six points.

Despite his team’s struggles, Crean said he was not panicking.

With three more conference games in the next 10 days, IU will have plenty of practice time to focus on Wednesday’s mistakes. 

“It's not a wake-up call,” Crean said.

The coach said practices leading up to Ohio State were successful.

“It just didn't translate to the game,” Jones said.

Sophomore guard Daniel Moore said the team had confidence going into the game, but it didn’t show on the court.

“We thought we could go out and compete,” Moore said.

Jones said he noticed early in the game that the team wasn’t concentrating, something that will be a point of emphasis at practice before facing Illinois on Saturday at Assembly Hall.

“We got to start tomorrow at practice,” he said. “We go to stay more focused. That's our weakness right now.”