Indiana Hoosiers Host Ohio State Buckeyes In Battle Of Big Ten Unbeatens

The Indiana Hoosiers and the Ohio State Buckeyes are both 3-0 thus far in Big Ten play, but Sunday, one of them will fall off of their perch when they meet at Assembly Hall.

The Hoosiers come into this game against Ohio State having won their last eight games while the Buckeyes have turned their season around following a 2-4 start kick started by a win against Kentucky.

Last Time Out

Tuesday night, the Hoosiers honored the 1976 undefeated national championship team along with collecting a 59-58 win over Wisconsin in Bloomington. It wasn't a pretty win, but a win is a win and in conference is nothing to complain about. They were led by Yogi Ferrell who had 19 points.

As for the Buckeyes, they are coming off of a hard fought win on the road at Northwestern on Wednesday night. It was a close game throughout, but the Buckeyes were able to pull away at the end behind 21 points from Kam Williams.

Scouting Report: Ohio State

The Buckeyes are coached by Thad Matta who is in his twelfth season at the helm of the program and has seen tremendous success in his time in Columbus. This season the Buckeyes are a young team, and Matta has a nine-man rotation he has been using, which is more than usual. With just one upperclassman on the team in Marc Loving, the team has had to rely on freshman and sophomores playing big roles this season.

Loving is the team's leading scorer as the 6-8 junior is averaging 14.9 points per game for the Buckeyes. He is a good all-around scorer as he is hitting 35 percent of his threes while shooting over 50 percent on twos.

Keita Bates-Diop along with Jae'Sean Tate are also averaging double digit points and are two big guys for the Buckeyes. They aren't necessarily too tall, but have long wing spans which makes them dangerous.

As for the other two starters, JaQuan Lyle and A.J. Harris are the two guards in the lineup. Neither of them are plus-shooters, but are good passers even though they turn the ball over at a fairly alarming rate.

The aforementioned Kam Williams is a good shooter off of the bench and has been a good scorer of late for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State is averaging just 71.8 points per game, but according to KenPom's AdjD statistic, they are 19th in the country in team defense.

What Indiana Needs To Do

Indiana is facing an Ohio State team that is hot of late, but so are the Hoosiers especially at Assembly Hall. They had a sluggish outing against Wisconsin last time out, but after having five days off, they should be good to go.

With the Buckeyes lacking a consistent big man, Thomas Bryant should look to have a big game for Indiana. They have now had three games to play without James Blackmon Jr. who is out for the season and the Hoosiers have had to grind out results.

Two players for the Hoosiers to key in on are Robert Johnson and Troy Williams. Both guys have struggled to get it going and for the Hoosiers to keep their undefeated Big Ten record alive, having them contribute consistently will help this Indiana team score like they are capable of scoring.

What To Expect

Indiana has been progressing tremendously on the defensive side of the floor and against a good defensive team like Ohio State, they're offense could be slowed a bit. Against a Buckeyes team that is a bit offensively challenged, getting consistent stops on defense and not turning the ball over will be key for the Hoosiers

The Hoosiers have played their best basketball at Assembly Hall this season and if they expect to win a game against a Buckeyes team that has won nine of their last 10, they will need another solid game in their friendly confines.

Indiana has had Ohio State's number in Bloomington winning three of the last four, but every game these days needs to be earned in the Big Ten.

It will be a classic matchup of good offense against good defense, which should be a fun game for the average fan.