Ohio State played its best ball when it mattered most Monday, fighting through a blown lead late in the second half to win by double digits in overtime.
Malaki Branham was so good for the Buckeyes on Monday night that Indiana forgot about E.J. Liddell with the game on the line in the waning seconds of a two-point contest.
Before Branham’s pass to Liddell for the game-tying dunk, he hit two free throws at the 56-second mark that made it a one-possession game. The Buckeyes got a stop thereafter to bring about the crucial sequence. Branham finished with 27 points to lead all scorers, hitting nine of his 13 shot attempts and going 8-for-8 at the free-throw line. On a night when Liddell shot just 6-for-15 from the field, Branham’s contributions were absolutely necessary for Ohio State, particularly late.
The Buckeyes had a 33-28 lead at halftime, then came out on fire to open the second period, hitting eight of their first 10 shots of the second half as it looked like Ohio State would take control and pull away from then on out. Ohio State got up by as many as 11 with 13:32 to play, but the Buckeyes left the door open for Indiana when they failed to hit another shot for nearly the next five minutes.
Ohio State has bounced back with a win every time it has been defeated this season, and a finish like the one the Buckeyes had on Monday makes it clear to see why. On offense, Ohio State closed the final two minutes of overtime on a 10-0 run. On defense, it held Indiana without points for the final 2:30 and forced the Hoosiers into seven straight missed shots as their window of opportunity for a road upset win closed.