Hoosier senior Marshall Strickland hasn't been much of an impact player for Indiana so far this season. Maybe he was just waiting for the right time to make his mark.

Strickland drained a pair of free throws with 5.7 seconds left, then stole the ball on Ohio State's final possession to seal an 81-79 win over the Buckeyes. The win completed a comeback from a 17-point hole Indiana dug for itself in the first half and proved IU is for real in the Big Ten race.

"What a basketball game," Indiana head coach Mike Davis said. "We got off to a slow start mainly because Ohio State was playing great basketball. We got away from what we like to do, which is get the ball inside and we took some quick shots. (Robert) Vaden got two fouls. We did cut the lead to eight at the half, which I thought was pretty good. We came back in the second half and got it back."

As in their Big Ten opener vs. Michigan, the Hoosiers came out cold in the first half, falling behind 7-0 and 11-3 in the first few minutes of the game. Indiana rallied to pull within 16-14 with 11:32 left in the half, but Ohio State went on a 22-7 run over the next eight minutes to hold a 38-21 lead with 3:54 left before halftime.

Indiana, however, didn't roll over. Forward Marco Killingsworth scored on a lay-up inside, and swingman Roderick Wilmont scored on a jumper on IU's next possession to slice into the lead. A score from Strickland and a three-pointer from Wilmont with 1:27 left in the half cut the advantage to 38-30, and Ohio State held a 40-32 lead at the break.

"We played together," said Killingsworth when asked what the key was to IU's comeback. "We played together and we played defense. That's all there is."

Killingsworth led Indiana with 11 points in the first half, but Ohio State's Terence Dials matched Killingsworth's offensive output. IU's big men, however, got the Buckeyes' low-post players in foul trouble in the first half, with both Dials and forward Matt Sylvester picking up two fouls.

Indiana exploded out of the locker room at the start of the second half, with swingman Robert Vaden drilling a three on IU's first possession and Strickland draining another trey the next time the Hoosiers had the ball to cut the lead to four. Another three from Strickland and a three-point play by Killingsworth off a lay-up gave IU a 46-45 lead less than three minutes into the second half.

A trio of three-pointers on three straight possessions gave Ohio State a seven point lead with just under 14 minutes to play, but the Hoosiers again battled back. Strickland drained another three to cut the lead in half, and a three-pointer from Lewis Monroe ate into the advantage some more. The Buckeyes seemed to dare Monroe to shoot most of the game, sagging off him and leaving him wide open at times. Monroe responded, however, by scoring 11 points after halftime, including making 2-of-3 shots from beyond the arc.

"(Monroe) had close to more assists than he did shots on the season," Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said. "So we felt like making him make plays. He got going there in the second half a bit, and it hurt us a little bit."

A pair of free throws from Ohio State's Ron Lewis with 10:39 to play gave OSU a 63-57 lead, but a jumper by Wilmont and a pair of inside scores by Killingsworth cut the edge to one. A three-pointer from Monroe with just under eight minutes to play gave Indiana its first lead of the game, but the Hoosiers failed to score another field goal for seven and a half minutes.

Indiana, however, didn't fall behind. Instead, the Hoosiers converted from the free-throw line as the fouls on Ohio State continued to mount. Dials, OSU's leading scorer heading into the game, appeared to foul out with 5:47 left to play on a Killingsworth drive to the basket and argued vehemently with the officials. The refs instead gave the foul to Sylvester, and Dials proceeded to score seven straight Buckeye points. A lay-up by Dials with 1:50 to play gave Ohio State the lead again, but Monroe was fouled on IU's next possession and made 1-of-2 free throws.

Ohio State guard Je'Kel Foster missed a jumper on Ohio State's next possession, but IU's D.J. White had the ball stolen from him with 49 seconds left by Lewis. Following a timeout, Dials had a shot from close in over Killingsworth but missed, and Strickland tied up OSU's J.J. Sullinger to force a jump ball. Alternating possessions gave the ball to the Hoosiers, and Strickland was fouled by Dials with 5.7 seconds left. Strickland calmly made both free throws, and he disrupted Ohio State's final shot attempt to give Indiana the win.

"I have been hitting them pretty well so far this season, but it has been a while since I have hit two that were that big," said Strickland of hitting the game-winning free-throws. "Just to come in this situation and hit them feels real good."

Strickland finished with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting while playing all 40 minutes, and Killingsworth scored 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting. White grabbed seven rebounds in just 17 minutes of action, and Indiana featured five scorers in double figures. IU shot a sizzling 65 percent (13-of-20) in the second half, including making 7-of-11 three-point attempts after the break.

Ohio State was led by Dials, who scored 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go along with his eight rebounds, and both Foster and Lewis added 13 points a piece.

Wilmont scored just eight points in the first half, but his outside shooting was the spark that triggered IU's comeback. He made 2-of-5 shots from three-point range, and he finished the first 20 minutes 3-of-6 from the field overall.

"Rod took just one contested shot tonight, which I know and you know is better than he has ever done," Davis said. "I'm happy with that. Give him one. He made some big shots. I'm going to be patient with him."

Killingsworth was great all game and gave IU an inside presence, but without Strickland, the outcome could have been much different. He drained 3-of-4 shots from three-point range and added four rebounds, three assists and two steals. His final steal on OSU's last possession was clean and sealed IU's victory.

Monroe didn't put up gaudy numbers, but he finally asserted himself, which is something the Hoosiers needed from their senior point guard. Davis even benched Monroe for a while in the first half, giving Strickland some time at point guard. But Monroe finished with a season-high 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting to go along with his six assists, including a sweet behind-the-back pass to Killingsworth for a score. He also hoped to gain a little respect along the way.

"I don't know if they put their worst defender or a big man on me when they doubled-down on Marco, but you don't want to get to the point where you start jacking up shots," Monroe said. "I just was taking my time and running our offense, but I had to look to myself to open up other things."