The Hoosiers take on Ohio State in Chicago on Thursday in a Big Ten Tournament matchup.
Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m. ET and will be aired on BTN.
TheHoosier.com has gathered previews and predictions for the game below.
1. Juwan Morgan's fouls -- This hurt Indiana repeatedly, especially when injuries caused fatigue and exhausted its depth. Even with IU as healthy as it's been all season, Morgan still needs to know the value of his fouls, especially going against a 6-9, 270-pound Kaleb Wesson.
2. Wesson's impact -- Returning from a 3-game suspension, it is unclear whether Wesson will make the same impact as he did prior to the disciplinary action or if he'll have to play catch-up from a conditioning standpoint having not seen live game action in two weeks.
3. Tightened 3-point defense -- Ohio State lit IU up from beyond the arc, making seven of its 16 3-point attempts. They had three players make two attempts, as C.J. Jackson, Luther Muhammed, and Duane Washington shot 55 percent from three on 11 attempts. While the Buckeyes as a team are currently shooting 33.8 percent from 3-point range - 217th nationally - the first game showed the Hoosiers can't take that for granted.
1. Kaleb Wesson is back -- Ohio State’s best player will be on the court for the first time since Feb. 26 when the Buckeyes meet the Hoosiers on Thursday afternoon. Wesson, Ohio State’s leading scorer and rebounder, was reinstated this week from a three-game suspension for a violation of athletic department policy. The sophomore center is averaging 14.6 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per contest, and his absence was among the primary reasons for Ohio State’s losses to Purdue, Northwestern and Wisconsin. Wesson scored 10 points and posted four rebounds against IU on Feb. 10. “He’s such an unbelievable presence, in terms of being able to play around him,” IU coach Archie Miller said. “He’s a big body that creates angles and flips his hips. He’s a true low post player with really good technique and feet, and he has great touch around the basket.”
In what some are billing as an NCAA tournament bubble elimination game, Indiana and Ohio State will meet on Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten tournament in Chicago.
Ohio State has won its last three meetings against the Hoosiers, including an early February contest in Bloomington in which neither team shot better than 45 percent from the field.
The Buckeyes come in reeling as losers of their last three games while Indiana is playing its best basketball since December and has won four straight.
Predictions and Probabilities
TheHoosier.com Staff Predictions
Jon Sauber: Indiana 74, Ohio State 67
Stu Jackson: Indiana 75, Ohio State 73
KenPom
Indiana 65, Ohio State 64 (52 percent chance Indiana wins)
Thrill Score: 67 (No. 5 among Thursday's games)
ESPN
Ohio State 50.4 percent
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