Hood-Schifino Goes Off Early, Hoosiers Rip Ohio State For 5th-Straight Win

Jalen Hood-Schifino hit six first-half three-pointers and scored 24 points, leading Indiana to an 86-70 victory over Ohio State, the Hoosiers' fifth-straight victory. He did it all despite dealing with stomach issues all night.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Like the kids say, Indiana freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino was sick on Saturday night.

The grown-ups will say he really was sick, but it sure didn't affect his performance during Indiana's 86-70 victory over Ohio State. He made six first-half three-pointers and scored 24 points despite stomach troubles, leading the Hoosiers to their fifth-straight win, their longest Big Ten streak since 2016.

The Hoosiers are now 15-6 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten. In 13th place two weeks ago, they are now tied for fourth in the Big Ten. 

Lately, they've just been ... sick.

"Hey, you've got to play when you're sick,'' said Indiana coach Mike Woodson, who missed Wednesday's game himself because of COVID-19 protocols. "I told him right before the game, I said, hey, I've had some of my best games when I've been sick, so hell, I can't feel sorry for you, you've got to strap them up and go play. We need you. He performed. I thought he came out and played his butt off.''

During this five-game winning streak, we've been combing the record books practically every night to properly chronicle Trayce Jackson-Davis' epic performances.

Saturday night, we did the same for Hood-Schifino.

The record for threes in a game is held by Roderick Wilmont, Matt Roth and Robert Johnson, who each made nine. Six different players have made eight and 14 have made seven.

None of them, however, have done so after scoring only eight total points in their previous two games, as Hood-Schifino did. He shot just 3-for-17 in the wins over Michigan State and Minnesota. So when he came out with guns blazing on Saturday night, it was a welcomed site.

He had 20 first-half points and made 6-of-7 threes in the half. The last one came late, when Indiana went on a 15-0 run in just over 3 minutes to break the game open, taking a 46-30 lead to the locker room.

"Here's a freshman that's played very well for our ballclub this season,'' Woodson said.. He did get off to a hot start, and we needed every bit of it because Ohio State got off to a great start. He was basically the only guy that was putting the ball in the hole. Our defense stayed solid, and then that three-minute mark of the first half is when we made our run. We went on, I think, a 15-0 run, and that's basically, I think, what sealed the game for us.

"(Our defense) had a lot to do with it. We got stops. I came out of the timeout and I'm like, guys, we're just sitting here trading buckets, and we can't trade the rest of the game. Somebody has got to make a stand. We came out of that timeout, I talked about getting three or four stops, and we got a lot of stops and were able to get out and make plays in the open court offensively to get the cushion that we needed going in at halftime.''

Ohio State did make a few mini-runs in the second half, but never got closer than 11 points. The Buckeyes (11-10, 3-7 in Big Ten) were led by freshman Brice Sensabaugh, who had 23 points.

Jackson-Davis had 18 points on 8-of-18 shooting, 10 rebounds and six assists, mere mortal stats from someone who's been averaging 27.3 points and 14.3 rebounds during this winning streak. But he got plenty of help up front — and from a pair of unlikely sources who were called upon after Jordan Geronimo couldn't go because of a calf injury.

Freshman Malik Reneau played 23 minutes, one off his season-high, scored 15 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and had three assists with just one turnover. The 15 points tied a season high set back in the season opener against Morehead State on Nov. 7.

Kaleb Banks, another freshman who's crunch-time minutes have been minimal all year, stepped in and played well, too. He had five points and seven rebounds in just 12 minutes of playing time. Three of those were offensive boards. Indiana had 15 overall.

Banks had only played 67 minutes all year, and none of it was in the middle of a huge Big Ten game. He's only played 11 minutes in conference, all at the end when it didn't matter much.

It mattered against Ohio State. A lot. Banks, a 2,000-point high school scorer in Georgia, isn't used to sitting.

''It definitely was a challenge. It got hard,'' the soft-spoken Banks said. "It was hard, but I stayed ready, just stayed the course, and eventually, like tonight, I got a chance. I think I contributed well. 

"I mean, that definitely was my motivation (getting a chance to play). It was my shot. I had a feeling before the game that today was going to be the day, so I tried to make the best out of it, and I think I did well.''

Reneau, a high school teammate with Hood-Schifino at Montverde Academy in Florida, has seen this beast-mode routine before from him. All that Hood-Schifino accomplished against the Buckeyes didn't surprise him one bit, even after the pedestrian numbers in the past two games.

He's capable of catching fire in any situation.

"Fino, he's ready to go at any moment, at any time,'' Reneau said. "He prepares mentally, physically, and it's two or three days before the game time, he's in the gym, getting up shots, after practice, before practice. He's really prepared for when those games come to perform like he performed today.

"When he's on a hot streak, on the bench, or when I'm coming off the bench, I've just got to keep it up, support him, like everybody else, cheer him on, give him that confidence that he needs to keep performing how he is.''

This was Hood-Schifino's second-best scoring night as a Hoosier, only topped by the 33 he had against Northwestern. It was a big part of a fifth straight win, and the Hoosiers are now back in business in the Big Ten. There are 10 games to go, and they're right in the hunt for getting a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, which is a big deal.

Larger goals aren't out of the equation, either, especially with two games still to go against league-leader and No. 1-ranked Purdue.

The Hoosiers are back in action on Tuesday at Maryland. The. Terrapins are just 5-5 in the Big Ten, but they have won all five home games.

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• WHAT WOODSON SAID Indiana basketball is on a five-game winning streak after defeating Ohio State 86-70 at home. Hear from head coach Mike Woodson after the game through the full press conference video, or just read his transcript. CLICK HERE
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• HOLTMANN ON SCOREBOARD INCIDENT: A 10-to-15 pound piece of metal fell from the scoreboard at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall moments before the second half of Saturday's game between Indiana and Ohio State. Here's what Holtmann said about the situation after the game. CLICK HERE
• OHIO STATE'S POOR DEFENSE: the Hoosiers' 15-0 run in the final 3:31 of the first half, coupled with what coach Chris Holtmann called the 'poorest defensive output' of the season, was too much to overcome in an 86-70 loss at Indiana. CLICK HERE
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• WATCH HOOD-SCHIFINO'S 3: Jalen Hood-Schifino started Saturday's game against Ohio State a perfect 4-for-4 shooting with 11 points in the first six-plus minutes of action. CLICK HERE
• LIVE BLOG: Relive all the action from the game in real time in Tom Brew's live blog. CLICK HERE
• GERONIMO, DUNCOMB OUT: Indiana's Jordan Geronimo (calf) and Logan Duncomb (non-COVID illness) are inactive for Saturday's game against Ohio State at 8 p.m. ET at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. CLICK HERE