Pivotal plays led to OSU’s epic win

BLOOMINGTON, IND. — The superlatives and implications from Ohio State’s 80-78, double-overtime win against Indiana on Friday will be unpacked during the coming days and weeks. C.J. Jackson’s 3-point heave from about 26 feet with 1.6 seconds left closed the chapter on the 2017-18 regular season for Ohio State, and it put the Buckeyes at 24-7 overall and 15-3 in the Big Ten.

It was a stunner in a game full of them.

Take, for instance, a play early in the second half with the Buckeyes leading 43-39. Kam Williams missed a jumper, but Kaleb Wesson was there to tap the rebound away toward the Ohio State bench. The ball was loose, but the big man got to the floor, dove for it and came up with possession that led to a Williams runner. It pushed the lead to six points with 14:57 left in regulation and didn’t win the game, but it was a 50-50 play that the Buckeyes won.

Or, with the score tied at 48, Ohio State got a benefit when a pass that surely would have led to a turnover instead just grazed the foot of an Indiana defender, extending a possession that led to a Jae’Sean Tate basket.

Tied at 63 with 2:18 to play in regulation, Ohio State missed its final three shots and had to play defense to extend the game. After Indiana called timeout with 22.2 seconds, the Hoosiers gave the ball to Robert Johnson, but this time the defense held and forced him into a tough angle on his drive and it rimmed out with three seconds to play.

With 1:39 to play in the first overtime, Williams buried a tough jumper off a curl just inside the three-point arc along the left wing to give Ohio State a 70-68 lead that almost stood up as the game-winner until Johnson – a 70.7 percent freethrow shooter this season – hit two from the line with 7.8 seconds left. That gave the Buckeyes a chance at the final shot, but instead a pass intended for C.J. Jackson resulted in a turnover when Bates-Diop clouded the picture.

“We both slid to the ball,” Bates-Diop said sheepishly after the game. “I was supposed to stay corner. That’s on me. I just wanted the ball. We slid to each other and were this close.”

Then, with a one-point lead and the ball in the final moment of the second overtime, Jackson’s centering pass to Andrew Dakich glanced off his hands and back toward center court, resulting in a backcourt violation with 16.7 seconds left to give Indiana another chance that it ultimately took advantage of when Juwan Morgan, who had battled with BatesDiop all game, spun through the lane and scored with his left hand to set up Jackson’s dramatic shot.

It all added up to a wild, emotional win for the Buckeyes, who will now enjoy a full week of rest before opening play in the Big Ten tournament.

The game featured 16 lead changes and was tied 14 times. The second overtime period alone featured eight – EIGHT – lead changes.

“Well, this team does have a grit to it that is necessary in a game like this, particularly on the road,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “At the end of the day ... They did that, and it wasn’t always perfect and we put them on the line too much and we missed some shots we probably usually make and we didn’t always play as strong as we needed to and defensively we weren’t good in spots.

“All those things we have to get better on, but we’re not going to let that diminish this win.”