The Indiana Hoosiers have suffered a devastating blow to their NCAA Tournament chances after losing to Ohio State.
Heading into Saturday night's matchup on the road against the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Indiana Hoosiers were badly needing a win to give themselves a good chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament.
Unfortunately for head coach Darian DeVries and company, the Hoosiers were unable to get that win.
When all was said and done against Ohio State, Indiana ended up falling by a final score of 91-76. That loss could very well have sealed the Hoosiers' fate.
From the very beginning of the game, it was clear that Indiana was in for a tough night. The Buckeyes were full of energy and the atmosphere from the fans was difficult for the Hoosiers to overcome.
Ohio State standout senior guard Bruce Thornton led the way for the Buckeyes. He scored 25 points on 7-for-9 shooting to go along with seven assists. In addition, he became the all-time leading scorer in school history.
Amare Bynum also put on a show against the Hoosiers, scoring 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting. He grabbed nine rebounds as well.
On the Indiana side of things, Lamar Wilkerson led the way in scoring with 18 points. Tucker DeVries scored 17 points and dished out five assists, while Sam Alexis scored 14, Conor Enright scored 12, and Reed Bailey came off the bench for 12 as well.
Prior to the loss against Ohio State, ESPN had listed the Hoosiers as a team with "work to do" in order to get into the tournament. That work wasn't accomplished in this matchup.
Looking to the future, Indiana will have to put together an impressive showing in the Big Ten tournament. There is a chance the Hoosiers could still get into the March Madness chaos, although those chances are much smaller than they were before Saturday night's loss.
Brian Rauf, a national college basketball writer for Basket Under Review, shared the brutal truth about the loss for Indiana.
"Ohio State’s win over Indiana likely puts the Buckeyes in and pushes the Hoosiers out," he wrote on X. "Both need to perform in the Big Ten Tournament to feel comfortable, but Ohio State has really helped itself of late while Indiana has not."
With the loss to Ohio State, the Hoosiers closed out their regular season with a 1-5 record in their final six games. That seems likely to come back to haunt them.