COLUMBUS, Ohio — Coming off a collapse of a defeat to Penn State on Feb. 3, Indiana men’s basketball orchestrated a second-half comeback to defeat Ohio State 76-73 on Tuesday night at Value City Arena.
With sixth-year senior guard Xavier Johnson sidelined for the second straight game with an elbow injury, freshman guard Gabe Cupps, sophomore guard CJ Gunn and senior guard Anthony Leal were left to pick up the slack in the backcourt alongside senior guard Trey Galloway.
While Cupps and Gunn provided little offensively, Galloway scored 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. By the conclusion of the first half, Indiana trailed 42-29 and shot a combined 33% from the field and 14% from beyond the arc.
Indiana endured a 9-0 Buckeye run roughly midway through the first period, which spanned nearly three minutes without a Hoosier bucket. Ohio State frequently capitalized off Indiana’s mistakes, tallying 16 points off eight Hoosier turnovers in the first period.
The Hoosiers’ struggles on the road are well documented this season. Indiana had lost four games in Big Ten play away from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, with its sole victory coming against Michigan on Dec. 5.
Against a Buckeye squad that’s gone a second-worst 3-8 in the conference and lost seven of its last eight, Indiana was able to change its fortunes. Galloway came alive in the second half, scoring 19 of his 25 points and producing his second game of 20 or more points this season.
Sophomore forward Malik Reneau impressed too, notching a double-double with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Behind the stellar play of Galloway and Reneau, Indiana shrunk the deficit to 2 points with five minutes remaining.
Shortly after, a Galloway triple pulled the Hoosiers within one. Indiana took a 70-69 lead off a layup from sophomore Kel’el Ware with just under three minutes left, but Ohio State regained a 73-71 advantage with about 30 seconds remaining.
Leal drained a massive 3-pointer to give Indiana a 74-73 lead before hitting a pair of free throws to ultimately secure the Hoosiers’ road victory.
With the win, Indiana moved to 14-9 and 6-6 in the conference. Next, the Hoosiers will stay on the road and travel to West Lafayette to take on No. 2 Purdue on Saturday night. Tip is set for 8 p.m. and will be available to watch on FOX.
Follow reporters Will Foley (@foles24) and Matt Press (@MattPress23) and columnist Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
