Ohio State Rises From Lowest Point to Defeat No. 17 Indiana, 73-67

Ohio State had its finest moment of the 1996-97 season at perhaps the unlikely time.

The Buckeyes, without second-leading scorer Jermaine Tate and coming off a 31-point loss to Big Ten pushover Northwestern, stunned 17th-ranked Indiana, 73-67, Thursday night.

Tate, a 6-foot-8 center averaging 14.1 points, is undergoing testing after complaining of heart palpitations last week and sat out the game. Backup center Sean Tucker was also sidelined because of a leg injury suffered in practice Wednesday.

Ohio State (8-9, 3-5) still managed to shoot 52%--the first team to make more than half its attempts against the Hoosiers (17-5, 4-4) in 45 games. The Buckeyes shot 64% in the first half to take a 37-32 lead at halftime and guard Damon Springer, who had 18 points, made four free throws in the final 21 seconds to seal the victory.

Even with no player over 6-9, the Buckeyes held the Hoosiers’ three centers--6-9 Haris Mujezinovic and 7-footers Jason Collier and Richard Mandeville--to 11 points and four rebounds.

“Ohio State had a challenge to play without the kid who has played well for them and we had a challenge to rise to the occasion,” Indiana Coach Bob Knight said. “We didn’t, and that was the story of the game.”