Scarlet Sunrise: Chris Holtmann 'was concerned about resuming play' at Indiana after piece of jumbotron fell

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Chris Holtmann ‘was concerned about resuming play’ at Indiana after piece of jumbotron fell

Moments before the start of the second half of Ohio State’s Saturday night loss at Indiana, a metal rod fell from the Assembly Hall jumbotron and landed approximately seven feet from Buckeyes star freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh.

The game was delayed about five minutes before the second half officially got underway. But Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann was worried about the safety of everyone on the court.

“They said it weighed about 10 to 15 pounds,” Holtmann said of the debris, when asked if he was concerned about resuming play. “It would have significantly injured Brice had it connected. Thank God it didn’t.

“Yeah, I was concerned about resuming play.”

A piece of metal fell from the scoreboard at Assembly Hall and almost hit Brice Sensabaugh 😳 pic.twitter.com/dionTes2Cs

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 29, 2023

This isn’t the first time Assembly Hall has had this kind of problem. Back in 2014, a metal beam measuring approximately 8 feet by 14 inches fell from the building’s ceiling into empty seats — luckily, the accident occurred during a Tuesday afternoon, and not during a game. But it led to the postponement of Indiana’s upcoming matchup against Iowa.

Saturday night’s delay followed an abysmal end to an otherwise competitive first half for Ohio State. Indiana turned a one-point game into the makings of a blowout with a 15-0 run over the final 5:05 of the opening frame. Holtmann emphasized that his concern about continuing play had nothing to do with the double-digit deficit his team was facing.

“I told the officials I was concerned about resuming,” Holtmann said. “I wanted the game to resume. Obviously, I’m not saying, ‘Hey, we’re down 16, we want to call the game.’ I wanted the game to resume. I was concerned about resuming it without them going up and taking a look at it or pulling it down and taking a look at it and determining that it was fully functional and that there were going to be no other issues with it.

“Obviously, their game day staff felt like it was fine. But it was a significant concern, especially once what fell was described to me — what it looked like and felt like.”

There were no interruptions to play in the second half, and the Buckeyes failed to cut their deficit to single digits the rest of the way, suffering their seventh loss in the last eight games.

First-half Indiana run dooms Ohio State in Assembly Hall

That 15-0 Indiana run did Ohio State in Saturday night. Before the Hoosiers’ kill shot, they were only up, 31-30. The score was stuck that way for a minute and a half, during which Buckeyes freshman center Felix Okpara missed three free throws in a row.

Ohio State didn’t score the rest of the half. Meanwhile, an offensive rebound and second-chance layup from Indiana freshman forward Malik Reneau jumpstarted the game-changing Hoosiers surge. Indiana star Trayce Jackson-Davis — who was averaging 30.3 points, 15 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 4.7 blocks over the last three outings — scored or assisted on 11 of Indiana’s 15 points during the run.

Jackson-Davis wasn’t the story of the first half, though. That belonged to Hoosiers freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, who connected on 6-of-7 3-pointers in the opening frame.

Despite shooting a much-improved 53.3% from the field in the second half, Ohio State couldn’t come up with defensive stops. Without those stops, there wasn’t a way back into an eventual 86-70 defeat.

The Buckeyes are now 11-10, including 3-7 in Big Ten play. They are third-to-last in the conference standings.

Staff Picks: Predicting three breakout candidates for Buckeyes in winter workouts

The Lettermen Row crew continues its offseason coverage of Ohio State football by each picking a player who will flash in winter workouts and help the Buckeyes compete for a national title next season.

Spencer Holbrook, Tim May and Andy Backstrom each went with a soon-to-be second year player who impressed in 2022 despite limited snaps.

Find out who the guys picked, plus why they made those picks, and if there are any other Buckeyes players on their radar as winter training gets going.

Don’t miss the latest Offseason Report presented by Byers Auto with Spencer, Tim and Andy.

READ: Four veterans who can ace offseason, help Buckeyes win national title

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Indiana: 216 days

Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 300 days

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