Ohio State has a quick turnaround from a defeat while Indiana has more time than expected to contemplate a four-game losing streak.
Each team hopes to be the beneficiary on Monday when the No. 18 Buckeyes (16-7, 9-5 Big Ten) play the Hoosiers (16-9, 7-8) in Columbus, Ohio.
The game was scheduled for two days earlier before being shifted because the Buckeyes played Iowa on Saturday to accommodate the Feb. 3 weather-related postponement of the contest.
The Hawkeyes handed Ohio State its first home loss of the season in 12 games, courtesy of a 75-62 decision.
“Indiana’s going to present a lot of challenges,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said afterward. “We’ve got to coach and play better leading into another big test for us. All in all, that will be addressed first, and then we’ll turn our attention to Indiana here really quickly.”
Indiana is coming off a 74-69 loss to No. 15 Wisconsin on Tuesday. The Hoosiers used the extra days off to rest and rejuvenate for the home stretch with an eye on making the NCAA Tournament under first-year coach Mike Woodson.
“For me this week it was mental, taking a little break and resetting my mind,” Indiana’s Race Thompson said.
Woodson understands that his team’s demeanor needs his attention.
“It’s my job to keep them in the right frame of mind. I think we’re OK,” he said. “It’s not like every game that we played we haven’t competed and been in every game. We’ve been there. We just haven’t been able to close. That’s kind of disturbing. I put the onus on myself as coach because it’s my job, but they’ve still got to play, too.
“We’ve been solid defensively, but lately we have not been able to make shots. We’ve got to keep working at it. We’ve got to keep shooting in practice and doing the things that hopefully will get us over the hump. That’s the name of the game.”
The Buckeyes are motivated to make amends. Iowa had 20 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second-chance points and converted 14 Ohio State turnovers into 16 points.
“I feel like we competed at times, rather than the whole 40 minutes,” the Buckeyes’ E.J. Liddell said. “I feel like they played the whole 40 minutes hard. That’s an area we have to get better in, maximizing every second we’re out there as a team.”
Teammate Kyle Young said it was a matter of not being aggressive enough against the Hawkeyes.
“It was a lot of the little things, loose balls, 50-50 balls, which I think they were beating us to. A lot of these games will come down to that,” he said. “Big Ten games are battles, and the team who usually wins more of those is going to be up in the game. That was an area we struggled in a little bit.”
Indiana’s Miller Kopp said the Hoosiers are ready to put their skid behind them.
“You can’t let anything spill over to the next game and the next game,” he said. “You have to cut the water off.”
— Field Level Media
