COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)Mackenzie Holmes scored a career-high 30 points and No. 10 Indiana beat No. 20 Ohio State 86-66 on Sunday night.
The Hoosiers (8-2, 2-0 Big Ten) never trailed and pulled away in the second quarter, shooting 62.5% behind 11 points from Nicole Cardano-Hillary, who finished with 17 points. Grace Berger scored 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting.
Sunday marked the first time the Hoosiers defeated the Buckeyes in back-to-back games in 18 years. Overall, Indiana shot 58% from the field, with 56 points in the paint.
”We were all business from the jump. We knew that they were not going to go away quietly,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said. ”When they started inching towards us a little bit with some made buckets, we would go down and we would respond.”
The Buckeyes’ leading scorer was Jacy Sheldon, who had 23 points – all but two came in the second half. Taylor Mikesell added 15 points.
Ohio State (7-2, 1-1) has had the conference’s top offense this season, but Indiana held the Buckeyes scoreless for the first five minutes of the first quarter.
Indiana led 43-29 at halftime, the most points Ohio State has allowed in the first half this season.
Ohio State also gave up 17 turnovers, allowing the Hoosiers to score 26 points off those giveaways.
”They were the better team tonight, clearly,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. ”The turnovers just really killed us.”
DOMINANT DEFENSE
While the Buckeyes pressed the length of the court for much of the game, Indiana forced Ohio State to take challenging shots and make difficult passes.
The Hoosiers stole the ball four times from the Buckeyes, grabbed 27 defensive rebounds and had five blocks, the latter all from Holmes.
”We hang our hat on the defensive end,” Moren said. ”We were prepared for all their actions. We played really, I thought, stingy on that side of the ball.”
HOLMES REACHES 1,000 POINTS
Only in her third season with Indiana, Holmes entered the night 21 points shy of 1,000 during her Hoosiers career.
She achieved the milestone with a layup in the fourth quarter, becoming the 29th Hoosier to reach 1,000. The 2021 All-American Honorable Mention has averaged double figures in each of her three years.
”I wasn’t really paying too much attention to it,” Holmes said. ”I just was myself out there. I didn’t want to think about it too much, overthink anything.”
BIG PICTURE
Indiana: The Hoosiers picked up their second Top 25 win in their fourth ranked matchup this season. It was also their third consecutive win.
”These early matchups for us are exactly why we schedule the way we do,” Moren said. ”We want our kids to be Big Ten-ready when our conference season gets here.”
Ohio State: The Buckeyes had trouble getting buckets to fall all game, shooting a season-worst 36.4%. Ohio State had shot better than 47.1% in its last seven games.
UP NEXT
Indiana: Hosts Western Michigan on Sunday.
Ohio State: Hosts Alabama State on Wednesday.
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