COLUMBUS, Ohio - First-year head coach Matt Crenshaw wanted to continue the season long learning experience for his squad on Tuesday night (Jan. 18) and give his troops an opportunity to play a game in a high major environment. No. 19/18 Ohio State played the role of tutor, outscoring IUPUI in the second half by a 46-13 margin in schooling the Jaguars, 83-37 inside Value City Arena. 

Sophomore Bakari LaStrap led IUPUI with 12 points off the bench and Mike DePersia closed with nine points and six boards in the loss. Freshman Chuks Isitua also played well off the bench with eight points, four boards and two steals. Ohio State shot 67 percent from the floor and 64 percent from three-point range in the second half to close the game at 57 percent overall. Eugene Brown III had a game-high 14 points off the Ohio State bench and E.J. Liddell had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the victors. 

IUPUI (1-15) took the lesson in stride and showed continued growth, hanging in tough in the opening half against one of the nation's top teams. Ohio State continued its home court dominance, improving to 9-0 at Value City Arena this season.

In the opening half, LaStrap and DePersia fueled the Jaguars on the perimeter while Isitua had an impressive showing against a supersized Ohio State frontcourt.

"I liked what we did defensively in the first half," Crenshaw said. "Their size, strength and physicality bothered us, but I thought we did a good job fighting them. We knew they were going to come out strong in the second half. We were prepared for that, but we couldn't match them athletically, especially on the inside. 

"They're one of the best teams in the nation for a reason."

The Buckeyes (12-4) blitzed the Jags from the opening tip, surging out to a 9-0 lead before IUPUI fired back with five straight points. While the Jags never seriously threatened, they hung around on an assortment of offense from LaStrap in the midrange and Isitua in close. 

IUPUI was down just eight with 3:18 left before halftime when LaStrap finished a twisting layup in transition, but the Buckeyes extended their lead to 37-24 at the half, capped by a Cedric Russell three with 44 seconds left. 

"Even if you can get to the locker room down only eight or six, you feel a lot better about where you're at," Crenshaw said. "It got to 13 and you kind of knew that they would bang in some threes and from there, they're hard to stop."

On cue, Ohio State delivered the knockout blow early in the second half, outscoring IUPUI 13-4 to start the stanza to extend the lead beyond 20 and prompt Crenshaw to call timeout. IUPUI had no answer and struggled to get clean looks against a swarming OSU defense, shooting just 19 percent after the break.

Ohio State won the glass 28-19 and outscored IUPUI in the paint, 32-14. 

"Their bigs post really hard, even when they don't get the ball," Crenshaw said. "That was something we pointed out to our guys was just how hard they worked for position and did the work before the ball was delivered. 

"That's definitely something we can take away from tonight."

The loss dropped IUPUI to 0-3 all-time against the Buckeyes and 0-18 against nationally ranked opponents. 

The Jaguars will return home to kickoff a homestand, beginning on Thursday night (Jan. 20) when they host Wright State at Indiana Farmers Coliseum at 7:00 p.m.. That game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) describe the action.