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As Purdue Fort Wayne arrives, what lessons can Ohio State take from IU Indy season opener?
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- As Purdue Fort Wayne arrives, what lessons can Ohio State take from IU Indy season opener?
It's still unclear just how much to make of what transpired during Ohio State's season opener against IU Indy. Playing against a team with a unique style led by a first-year coach whose last team at West Liberty averaged more than 100 points per game while going 30-5 in 2024-25, the men's basketball team earned a 118-102 win in a game with a combined 162 offensive possessions.
That roughly equates to four possessions per minute, or one every 15 seconds. It made for an occasionally herky-jerky viewing experience or, as Ohio State's Bruce Thornton put it, similar to an NBA type of pace. The 40-minute game took 2:19 to play, an affair featuring spurts of fast-paced action halted by fouls and free throws that come with the style IU Indy coach Ben Howlett.
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What does that mean for the rest of Ohio State's season, starting with the Nov. 7 home game against Purdue Fort Wayne ? The Mastodons don't figure to present the same track meet that the Jaguars did, but Buckeyes coach Jake Diebler said there's still lessons to be learned.
"Against a team who plays that fast with that kind of volume from 3, they made us pay when we did have some communication breakdowns," he said. "That's good for us because that's an area where no matter who you play, communication is critical defensively. Working on that, working on keeping the ball in front and some other things were takeaways that, we don't want to disregard what happened but view it through a lens for what's going to get us ready … for the rest of the season."
As of the morning of Nov. 7, IU Indy sits No. 4 nationally in tempo according to KenPom.com after a 94-90 loss to LIU on Nov. 6. The Jaguars will then go to Butler and face former Ohio State coach Thad Matta on Nov. 8 for their third game in six days.
Diebler said the film work following Ohio State's first game showed some defensive holes that the Buckeyes have worked on during the week.
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"There were some things that in watching them that we really wanted to take away, which we did, but by doing that it got us spread out a little bit defensively, which caused us some holes," he said. "We had to make some adjustments in the flow of the game and guys had to get used to that, so that was great."
Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) scrambles for a loose ball in front of IU Indy Jaguars guard Micah Davis (4) during the NCAA men's basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus on Nov. 3, 2025. Ohio State won the season opener 118-102.
History was made in quite a few statistical categories. Here's a look at how unprecedented this type of game was in Ohio State history:
Most points scored in a season opener
This was the most prolific first game of the season in Ohio State men's basketball history. The Buckeyes' 118 points topped the record of 111 set against Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 25, 1990. Jim Jackson had 19 points to lead seven Buckeyes in double figures against the Wildcats.
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It was nearly the most points scored in a single game in program history. The only time the Buckeyes score more points than they did against the Jaguars came in a Jan. 8, 1995 game against George Mason. Ohio State won that one, 121-96, with Doug Etzler scoring a game-high 37 points and dishing out 10 assists.
Most points in Value City Arena
This marks the second consecutive year in which this record has been sent, but this time the Buckeyes did it in regulation. On March 4, 2025, Ohio State fended off Nebraska 116-114 in double overtime.
Against IU Indy, the Buckeyes surpassed that total when John Mobley Jr. made two free throws with 48 seconds left for his team's final points of the night. Ohio State had two chances to set a new record, but Taison Chatman turned it over with 39 seconds left and then the Buckeyes dribbled out the final 26 seconds after IU Indy's final missed shot of the night.
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More: Freshman guard Myles Herro to redshirt in 2025-26 for Ohio State basketball
Most fouls by an opponent
The Jaguars were whistled for 36 fouls against the Buckeyes, eclipsing a record for an Ohio State opponent that had stood for nearly 40 years. On Jan. 27, 1968, Michigan was called for 35 fouls in a 95-92 Buckeyes road win.
Three IU Indy players fouled out, all of whom were starters, and eight of the nine Jaguars to play more than six minutes finished with at least three fouls. Back in 1968, Michigan had six players finish with at least four fouls. All four starters had at least four fouls and three fouled out.
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Against IU Indy, Ohio State was called for 17 fouls.
Most free throws made
Unsurprisingly, the number of whistles led to an unprecedented number of points from the charity stripe for Ohio State. The Buckeyes finished with 42 made free throws, four more than the previous program record set on two occasions. Most recently, Ohio State had made 38 free throws in a 79-69 home win against Ohio on Nov. 12, 2013, a game that saw current staff member Nick Kellogg score 21 points and only commit two fouls in 34 minutes for the Bobcats.
Senior Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes with nine fouls drawn against IU Indy while senior center Christoph Tilly and junior wing Devin Royal each drew eight. Royal and Tilly went to the line the most, going 10 for 13 and 9 for 13, respectively, while Thornton was 10 for 12.
Now the Buckeyes will host Purdue Fort Wayne, which lost its season opener 90-71 at Grand Canyon on Nov. 3. The Antelopes are coached by Bryce Drew, a close friend of Diebler's, and the Ohio State coach said that familiarity has helped with preparation for what figures to be another up-tempo game, albeit not to the same degree as the one against IU Indy.
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Purdue Fort Wayne is No. 58 in tempo. Ohio State is No. 56 after playing its second-fastest game in the KenPom era, which dates back to the 1996-97 season. The only other game played at a quicker tempo was a 107-69 win against VMI on Nov. 10, 2006.
"They're a team that's going to want to push the pace," Diebler said. "It'll certainly feel different than the last game but I think you've got two teams that are going to want to play with a quicker pace. For us, we've got to have high-level awareness and be connected on guarding their … perimeter players."
Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com , on Bluesky at @ cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @ AdamJardy .
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State taking lessons from unique season opener vs IU Indy
