College Hoops

Jalen Hood-Schifino and Kaleb Banks shine in Indiana’s 86-70 win against Ohio State – Inside the Hall

Amanda Foster

It was just another Saturday night in Bloomington. The town was filled with candy stripes and buzzing with excitement, anxiously waiting for Indiana basketball’s 8 p.m. tip against Ohio State. As the time drew nearer, the excited crowd filed in steadily, filling almost every corner of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as usual.

But that was just about where the normalcy stopped.

It started with an in-person “Martha the Mop Lady” instead of the traditional video on the jumbotron. Then, six made 3-pointers and a 15-0 run to close the first half. Then, a piece of the jumbotron fell to the floor just before the second half.

Following the five-minute delay that ensued, the weirdness abated — for the most part. Indiana held a comfortable lead for the entire 20 minutes of the second half, decisively beating Ohio State 86-70 in one of the most successful offensive performances of the season.

The game trended in Indiana’s favor in the second half, much as it did for the final three and a half minutes of the first half when the Hoosiers went on their 15-0 scoring run. And while the roaring crowd quite literally brought the house down, or at least a piece of it, even that couldn’t disrupt the groove Indiana was in.

Trayce Jackson-Davis opened the second-half scoring with a dunk, and Indiana held a double-digit lead for the rest of the night. But some of the biggest reasons why the Hoosiers won so comfortably came in the first half.

Jalen Hood-Schifino came out poised, calm and confident, playing arguably one of the best halves of his college career. With a shot as smooth as silk, he connected on a career-high six 3-pointers on seven attempts for a whopping 20 first half points.

And since it couldn’t just be that simple, he did it all while fighting an upset stomach.

“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,’” Mike Woodson said about his pre-game message to Hood-Schifino. “He performed. I thought he came in and played his butt off.”

“Playing his butt off” is a normal expectation for a player like Hood-Schifino, who has been a staple in Indiana’s lineup since the beginning of the season. What stood out Saturday was his maturity and his ability to push through physical discomfort to propel his team.

Hood-Schifino wasn’t the only one who had a unique first half, though. Kaleb Banks entered the game just about 13 minutes into the first half, for one of his…

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