Thomas’ 22 points lead Buckeyes past Hoosiers

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

A lot of things were going Indiana’s way before a native son did in the Hoosiers.

Deshaun Thomas, last year’s Indiana Mr. Basketball, came out of a slump with 22 points to lead No. 2 Ohio State past Indiana 82-61 on Sunday.

Thomas scored all the points during a 14-3 first-half run that spanned 3:36 and turned the game into a rout. He had managed just 13 points in his last seven games.

“After I hit my first two 3s, I felt kind of warm,” said Thomas, a 6-foot-6 freshman who’s prepared to pump up shots the minute he jumps out of bed. “I felt kind of comfortable.”

Thomas, who Indiana coach Tom Crean had tried to recruit after he had verbally committed to Ohio State, was the story for the Buckeyes in the first half. He gave them a lift after starters Jared Sullinger, David Lighty and Dallas Lauderdale got in early foul trouble.

“Deshaun came in and gave us a tremendous boost,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “He hit a couple of shots and I told him during a timeout that I liked him making shots but I thought he was really playing hard on defense as well. That was a big focus coming into this game.”

Thomas finished his career at Fort Wayne’s Bishop Luers High School with 3,018 points, third most among all Indiana schoolboys behind Damon Bailey and Marion Pierce.

Indiana, which hasn’t beaten a Top 25 team on the road in more than nine years, led 8-7 after Derek Elston scissored through the lane for a layup at the 16:35 mark, but didn’t score again for almost 8 minutes until Elston scored again on a short jumper.

Then Thomas took over, hitting two foul shots and swishing back-to-back 3-pointers. He took an assist pass from Lauderdale for another bucket inside, then spun in a reverse layup and ended the run with another reverse move off glass.

“He was hitting open shots. Give credit to him,” Crean said. “He made big plays. He’s one of the all-time leading scorers in the history of Indiana, so he can score. And today it was his day and we didn’t do a good enough job of guarding him.”

The Buckeyes led 38-23 at the half, with Thomas totaling 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, his only miss coming on a shot behind the arc.

Indiana never seriously threatened again.

Even though Thomas has seen only sparse playing time the past few weeks, his teammates know he can light it up. He’s been known to string together 3s when he gets “warm.”

“We see it every day in practice,” said Lighty, who had 11 points for the Buckeyes (27-2, 14-2 Big Ten). “Once he gets it going, there’s really no way to stop him — just try to keep it out of his hands.”

Thomas speaks of his scoring ability as if it’s a power that overtakes him.

“It’s a God-given gift,” he said. “I just did what I had to do.”