COLUMBUS, Ohio — For weeks, this game has been viewed as a win-or-go-home game for the Big Ten’s final bid to March Madness. One team solidified itself as an NCAA Tournament team on Saturday in Columbus; the other did not. Ohio State defended its home floor on Senior Night with an emphatic 91-78 win over Indiana.
Both squads entered Saturday firmly on the bubble of this month's NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes looked and played like a tournament team for all 40 minutes, leading by as many as 23 in the second half. The Hoosiers looked more like an NIT team.
The real star of the show was Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton, the senior guard, who entered his final matchup in Value City Arena just 12 points shy of Dennis Hopson’s program-leading 2,096 career points. Thornton immortalized himself in the scarlet and grey just minutes before the end of the first half. Thornton, a Buckeye favorite, added a game-high 25 points in his record-breaking performance. In an age where multiple years at the same program are never guaranteed, Thornton leaves Columbus as a four-year starter, leading scorer and one of the greatest Buckeyes of all-time.
Jake Diebler’s Buckeyes grabbed an early lead just two minutes into the game and never looked back. Value City Arena was more of a home-court advantage than the Buckeyes have seen in years, as the Arena welcomed its first sellout in seven years. The Buckeyes had four players in double digits behind Thornton. John Mobley Jr. and Amare Bynum added 18 points, while Devin Royal added 12 points.
Bynum, a true freshman, continues to shine for the Buckeyes. Ramping up his performances with 14 or more points in three straight games. Diebler might have found a hidden gem in Amare Bynum.
Per usual for Indiana this year, they fell on the road in conference play. In Darian DeVries’s first year at Indiana, the Hoosiers end the regular season (18-13, 9-11 B1G). Throughout the year, DeVries has looked to Lamar Wilkerson to be the sparkplug. In his final career regular-season game, Wilkerson and the Hoosiers came up short.
Offensively, the Hoosiers were uncharacteristically balanced, seeing double-digit production from Wilkerson (18), Tucker DeVries (17), Sam Alexis (14), Conor Enright (12), and the bench. Collectively, the team shot 28-of-51 from the field, but the efficiency inside the arc couldn't mask the struggles from deep.
The main problem for the Hoosiers was defense. They allowed 11 3-pointers (33 points) and looked sloppy defensively, allowing Ohio State to shoot a staggering 59% from the field. Darian DeVries was unhappy with his team’s efforts.
“We've given up too many 3s,” he said.
When the team needed a stop to carry offensive momentum, the Hoosiers couldn’t deliver. Open shots, slow rotations, and missed coverages killed Indiana’s chance of ever making it a game.
There isn't much time for the Hoosiers to dwell on the loss. With the regular season officially in the books, Indiana has been locked in as the No. 10 seed for the 2026 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at the United Center.
The path to saving their season now requires a deep run in Chicago.
Indiana will open postseason play at 5:30 p.m. CT / 6:30 p.m. ET (BTN) on Wednesday in Chicago. They will face the winner of Tuesday’s opening-round matchup between No. 15 Northwestern and No. 18 Penn State.
Should they win that game, they will face off against No. 7 seed Purdue on Thursday. A win over their rivals would be the bare minimum needed to get back into the bubble conversation. Though for the Hoosiers, three might be the magic number to book a ticket for the Big Dance.
The Hoosiers don’t have the luxury of time to find the defensive intensity that was missing in Columbus. If they can’t play 40 minutes of complete basketball, their postseason journey may be a short one.
