Indiana draws the rematch against Oregon in the second round of Big Ten Tournament

The Indiana Hoosiers ended the regular season on a high note as they defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, clinching the 9-seed in the Big Ten Tournament and a first-round bye. The Hoosiers needed to go at least 1-1 in their final two games of the regular season to accomplish this feat and with a loss against the Oregon Ducks, the Hoosiers needed to take care of business against the Buckeyes.

Luckily, thanks to solid play by the seniors who were recognized before the game, Indiana prevailed over Ohio State 66-60. Senior Trey Galloway hit a huge three-pointer late in the game to give Indiana a 5-point lead, basically seeing the game for the Hoosiers.

Now, with the regular season over and conference tournaments on the horizon, Indiana must turn their attention towards their first opponent, none other than the Oregon Ducks, a team they played just last week and lost to due to a late game breakdown.

The Hoosiers would have been the 10-seed had they lost to Ohio State, but instead will now get an extra day of rest but now face quite the challenge in the Big Ten Tournament. Looking at Indiana’s road to the Big Ten Championship, the extra day of rest also means that if they beat Oregon, they will then face a red-hot Michigan State team, who won the regular season title.

The good news is that Indiana has already beaten Michigan State this season on their own home court, but March basketball is a whole different level of basketball for a lot of teams. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo knows how to get his team to play at a high level in March, so Indiana would have to play their best basketball.

Before the Hoosiers can even think about playing Michigan State, they need to take care of business against Oregon, something they weren’t able to do in their second to last regular season game. In a game where neither team had more than a one or two-possession lead, Oregon somehow came out the winner nine points.

The reason Oregon was able to snatch the win away in what looked like a comfortable fashion is that late in the game, Indiana’s offense went cold, and their defense was even colder. Indiana couldn’t hit any sort of shot and then had to resort to fouling to keep themselves in the game.

Indiana found ways to sink the big shots against Ohio State in their following game, and the Hoosiers need to find a way to bring that to their game against the Ducks. A solid performance in the Big Ten Tournament could solidify Indiana’s spot in the NCAA Tournament, a spot that is currently teetering on in or out.