BLOOMINGTON — The Indiana basketball's team inspired play in the second half propelled them to a 71-65 win over Ohio State at Assembly Hall on Saturday night.

The Hoosiers trailed by as many as nine points coming out of halftime, but got 23 points from forward Malik Reneau (19 in the second half) and a strong effort from starting point guard Xavier Johnson, who scored 18 points in his second game back from an ankle injury.

Indiana (11-4; 3-1) closed out the game despite Ohio State (12-3; 2-2) making it a one-possession game with a 8-0 run inside the final three minutes. The disparity on the offensive glass (22-7 in OSU's favor and 24 second-chance points) kept the game close.

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Indiana basketball forward Malik Reneau dominates second half

It wasn’t the first time this season that Reneau solved all of IU’s offensive woes. He scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half and was unstoppable at the rim to help the Hoosiers erase a 46-37 deficit.

The success came after Reneau looked out of sorts in the first half after being listed as questionable on the team’s availability report. He even spent a long stretch on the bench in the half when he wasn’t in foul trouble, which isn’t something that happens very often.

He was locked in coming out of halftime and the focal point of the offense. He had an alley-oop from Trey Galloway with 3:34 remaining that put Indiana up 10 points and scored a critical basket coming out of a timeout when the lead got down to one possession with a 1:00 to go.

Indiana point guard Xavier Johnson takes step in right direction

Mike Woodson described Johnson’s return to the lineup against Nebraska as 14 “awful minutes.” It was a blunt assessment given it was the point guard’s first game back in the lineup since Nov. 26.

He looked more like his normal self when he had a flurry of offense at the end of the first half that included a 4-point play. He didn’t flinch as Dale Bonner knocked him off his feet when the shot left his fingertips.

Johnson gave IU its first lead in over 10 minutes, 37-36, when he hit a pair of free throws on the next possession. He got a step on his defender with a quick first step that wasn’t there on Wednesday night.

In the second half, he had a block and a steal on consecutive possessions and was flexing on the defensive end. His 3-pointer from the deep corner with 9:50 to go in the game gave IU its first lead of the half at 53-52.

When Johnson is in the flow, he gives the Hooisers a much-needed swagger. He finished the game with 18 points while going 8 of 11 from the free-throw line.

Mixed bag for Indiana’s bench against Ohio State

Indiana guard CJ Gunn had the best game of his career off the bench for Woodson.

Gunn threw down an emphatic one-handed slam on a fast break and was disruptive on the defensive end of the floor in the first half to help derail a 12-0 Ohio State run, and he was even better coming out of halftime.

He was the first player off the bench in the second half when Trey Galloway got in foul trouble and buried multiple contested jump shots to finish with 10 points.

It was reminiscent of the key contributions he had in a 78-75 win over Michigan earlier this year.

Anthony Walker, who leads all reserves in minutes (16.4 minutes) and scoring (7.6 points), only attempted two shots (and didn't score) against Ohio State. He didn’t check into the game in the second half until there was 9:23 left.

The rest of the bench combined for three points.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball wins thriller over Ohio State behind Malik Reneau