The Hoosiers were nearly able to climb back from a hole that they had dug for themselves against No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday, but unfortunately they could never get past the hump and take the lead late into the second half. With Jerome Hunter now seemingly back from his two games where he was benched by a “coach’s decision,” the Hoosiers featured him in a number of lineups this afternoon and he actually made the list on two of the top three most used lineups.
Notes
- Indiana’s best lineup on Saturday was the group of Phinisee, Franklin, Durham, Hunter, and Jackson-Davis. A lot of their production came in garbage time, but they also had a strong first half shift that brought IU closer to the Buckeyes. This unit went +4 in the second OT at Northwestern, and is now +31 on the season.
- From an efficiency standpoint, the lineup involving the four freshmen + Race Thompson led the way. They played the final 1:22 of the game, so obviously Ohio St. had clinched the win by then, but this unit has recorded a positive +/- in all four shifts they’ve played this season.
- Indiana particularly struggled against the Buckeyes when TJD was off the court, and Thompson played the five. With 13:17 left in the first half, Indiana trailed 11-6 and OSU was on a 9-0 run. Archie Miller subbed out TJD for Thompson, and OSU scored 10 more points consecutively. A similar substitution happened with 12:39 to go in the second half, when Thompson came in for TJD with OSU leading 50-40. OSU bumped it up to 54-40 in that stretch.
- Rob Phinisee was the only Hoosier to record a positive +/-; he was +3 on the day. He even went +1 in a first half where IU was outscored by 10. He also scored seven points in the second half. Jerome Hunter’s return seems to have benefited Phinisee more than anyone else on the team.
Featured Photo: Indiana University Athletics
