This time no court storming was necessary.
Three weeks to the day after No. 15 Indiana shook the college basketball world by beating No. 1 Kentucky, the Hoosiers had one more upset left in them in 2011.
On a night where the whistles were plentiful in Assembly Hall, it was the Hoosiers (13-1, 1-1) who outlasted No. 2 Ohio State (13-2, 1-1) in earning a 74-70 win Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd of 17,472.
“Our crowd was not only responsible for some baskets but for some stops,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “The building was electric and the Hoosier nation is so incredible. To not have that many students here at all, obviously because of the break, and to have that kind of energy in the building (was huge).”
In a back and forth game that saw 42 fouls called and six players end the game with at least four fouls, IU was able to make the plays it needed down the stretch without its leading scorer.
Freshman forward Cody Zeller battled foul trouble and played just four minutes in the second half, fouling out with 2:24 remaining.
Without their leading scorer, the Hoosiers got it done on the defensive end in the game’s final two minutes.
Down 70-69, IU forced back-to-back turnovers, the second of which came via a sophomore guard Victor Oladipo deflection. Senior guard Verdell Jones III came up with the loose ball and found Oladipo for the eventual game-winning layup.
The Hoosiers caused another turnover on the next possession and then forced a contested three-pointer by Ohio State guard William Buford to go along with hitting 3-of-4 free throws in the final 13 seconds to preserve the four-point victory.
“Our defense was really what got us the lead in the first place and that’s what kept us in the game,” junior guard Jordan Hulls said. “(Oladipo) did a great job there at the end forcing the turnover, making (Ohio State guard Aaron Craft) throw a bad pass and getting a deflection. That’s something we’ve been harping on all year is our defense needs to be the key.”
Bouncing back from a 2-of-10 performance against Michigan State on Wednesday night, Hulls led the Hoosiers with 17 points and hit four of the five made three-pointers for IU.
Crean said his point guard headed straight for the gym when IU returned from East Lansing, Mich. early Thursday morning and the extra work paid off as Hulls twice hit three-pointers late in the second half to regain the lead for IU on both occasions.
Playing without sophomore guard Will Sheehey for the third straight game, the IU starters paved the way with all five of them in double figures.
Even with the starters scoring 70 of the 74 Hoosiers points, the play of the bench from both teams played a crucial role in the outcome.
Ohio State’s starting frontcourt of Deshaun Thomas and Jared Sullinger both picked up two fouls in the first half and sat for the final 10:38.
IU turned a 10-point deficit into a one-point halftime lead and Jones credited the foul trouble and lack of depth for the Buckeyes as a factor in earning the first Big Ten win of the season.
“A lot of the film they watched, they went six deep, maybe seven, and today they had to use a lot of their players that usually don’t get that much playing time and may not play in an atmosphere like this,” Jones said.
The Hoosiers now turn their attention to Thursday evening as they welcome the Michigan Wolverines (11-2, 1-0) to Assembly Hall for a 9 p.m. tip.
The wins over the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the same season is the first time in IU history that a team has accomplished that feat.
Those accolades are something the Hoosiers will look back on in the off-season but for now they close out 2011 with a win over a team that has beaten IU by an average of 18 points the last six times they have met.
“All that stuff we go through (the past couple of years) we can’t get punked,” Oladipo said. “We just went toe-to-toe with them. They’ve been punking for the last couple of years and we realized that. This year we had to go toe-to-toe with them and we came out with a victory.”