Men's Basketball
Hoosiers Knock Off Buckeyes at Value City Arena
By John Porentas

Indiana forward D. J. White dominated on the baseline to help the Hoosiers (20-3, 9-1 Big Ten) score a 59-53 road victory over Ohio State (16-8, 7-4) in a game that definitely bolstered the Hoosiers' Big Ten regular-season championship aspirations and definitely put a dent in those of the Buckeyes.

White recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds...in the first half...as the Hoosiers established a 29-21 half time lead in part due to the play of White and in part due to a slow start offensively by Ohio State.

"D. J. White is a tremendous player," said OSU center Kosta Koufos. "He's a senior and he knows what he's doing.

"He's a very strong player," Koufos said.

"I think a lot of times we need something good to happen for us early to ignite us," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta," "Sometimes that happens , maybe it's a couple of quick shots, maybe it's a blocked shot, but we've got to find ways to say in it when that doesn't happen.

The Buckeyes could not find a spark to really ignite the through the entire game, but were particularly slow on offense in the first half. Starting guards Jamar Butler, Eric Turner and David Lighty combined to shoot four of 20 from the field and accounted for a total of 13 points. Starting forward Othello Hunter could add just six point to OSU's tepid offensive performance.

"I think the first half we didn't come out with enough energy," said OSU freshman guard Jon Diebler.

"They were more energetic than we were and that's why they got a lead. We just didn't get it done."

The OSU offense struggled throughout the game against an Indiana defense that was intent on limiting Jamar Butler's opportunities on the offensive end of the floor. When Butler's offense didn't materialize them, neither did OSU's.

"They extended out on him. I don't think he got a lot of clean looks. They did a good job challenging his shots," said Matta.

"The only thing we tried to do was make sure we did not go under any of those on-ball screens," said Indiana Head Coach Kelvin Sampson. We did not go under those on-balls," Sampson said. "He's such a good player, I don't know if we can take credit for it. Sometimes you just have a bad shooting night," Sampson said.

The Hoosiers' 2-3 zone defense had the Buckeyes on their heels throughout the game, particularly in the first half.

"Ohio State does the best job in the league of spacing the floor," said Sampson of his reason for playiing a zone against the Buckeyes. "We felt like we had a better chance at guarding their shooters in the zone than we did man."

"We weren't aggressive against their zone," said Diebler. "We play against our zone every day in practice, but at times I think we were a little tentative. We got in the gaps enough but we were unsure of what to do. When you're playing a team like Indiana you can't have that, you've got to be aggressive and make them guard you. and I don't think we did that in the first half," said Diebler.

In a game where neither team shot particularly well from three point range baseline play became the deciding factor, and White dominated down low for the Hoosiers. White ended up with a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds to go with two blocks and a steal.

"We're fortunate to have a great senior like D. J. White," said Sampson. "When you have a senior leader he's worth his weight in gold. He's why this team continues to progress."

OSU center Kosta Koufos answered White's performance with 18 points and nine rebounds of his own, but six of his 18 points came on three point field goals. OSU Freshman Jon Diebler, who has shown signs of picking up his offense of late, knocked down four three pointers in ten attempts to become OSU's only other double-digit scorer with 14 points.

"I thought Kosta did a great job tonight," said Matta.

The Buckeyes kept themselves in the game by playing some effective defense of their own, but were exposed repeatedly down low. For the game, Indiana outscored Ohio State 26-16 in the paint.

The Buckeyes trailed by as many as 11 in the second half, but closed to with three at 46-43 with 5:44, but White answered with an old-fashioned three to put the Hoosiers up six when he powered a dunk over Koufos and then converted the free throw when Koufos fouled him. The Buckeyes could get no closer than four the rest of the way.

"I thought we played better in the second half, but it wasn't enough," said Matta. "They made the plays down the stretch," Matta said.

"We didn't have what we needed today. For whatever reason we weren't capable of making he plays we needed to make."

The win leaved Indiana one one of just two teams with one loss in league play. The other is Purdue. With the loss, the Buckeyes now have four losses in league play with eight league games remaining on their schedule.

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