The Indiana basketball coaching staff has been hoping for some time that a player like Armon Bassett would step up and be IU’s third scoring option behind Eric Gordon and D.J. White.

Lately, however, the sophomore guard has been the scoring option for the Hoosiers.

Three days after scoring 24 against Northwestern, Bassett had a game-high 23 points Tuesday night to lead No. 12 Indiana to a 72-69 victory over Ohio State before 17,389 at Assembly Hall.

Bassett hit 7-of-11 shots from the field, including 4-of-8 3-pointers. He also had four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 36 minutes. He has posted back-to-back games of 20 points or more for the first time in his career.

“I’ve been trying to attack more,” Bassett said. “Obviously D.J. and E.J. (Gordon) are our focal points on offense, but I’ve been trying to be more aggressive while at the same time stay in the team mode. I think I’ve been able to do that.”

The victory moved Indiana (24-4, 13-2 Big Ten) into a first-place tie with Wisconsin, a half game ahead of Purdue. The Boilers can make it a three-way tie with a win tonight at home against Minnesota.

Interim coach Dan Dakich, who improved to 2-0 since taking over the team last Friday following the resignation of Kelvin Sampson, said he talked to Bassett about being more aggressive.

“The only thing I’ve said to him is that we’re really good when you’re aggressive,” Dakich said. “I think he’s a really good player. He’s working hard and I just think he’s playing really hard. I think he’s been a leader for us on both ends, offensively and defensively.”

White had 16 points and eight rebounds, despite requiring an IV for the second game in a row because of dehydration. Dakich said his senior forward has been battling the flu and has lost some weight.

And then there was Gordon, who had 17 points in 40 minutes of action. The freshman guard had a particularly interesting statistical line. He was just 4-of-16 from the field, including 1-of-8 from 3-point range, and had seven of IU’s 13 turnovers.

But he also scored eight points in the final four minutes. Six were at the free throw line, including converting a pair of one-and-one opportunities. His biggest play was a follow slam dunk off a missed 3-pointer by Lance Stemler with 1:51 to play. That put IU up 60-54.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta admitted that if he knew before the game that Gordon would go 4-of-16 from the field he would have felt pretty good. But he quickly pointed out the play of Bassett.

“I think they’re just a terrific basketball team,” Matta said. “When (Jordan) Crawford gets going, and then all of a sudden (Lance) Stemler starts making 3s, they’ve got a lot of weapons out there that can really stretch the defense.

“I think they’re a team that can get on a roll. And I think that will be imperative in college basketball this year. The best one is going to win the national championship.”

Indiana jumped out to an eight-point lead in the first seven minutes, and were up by as many as 13 in the first half at 30-17 following a 3-pointer by Bassett. Bassett came around a screen by White at the top of the key to hit that shot with 2:35 remaining. IU still led by nine at the break, 30-21.

The Buckeyes (17-11, 8-7) cut the lead to one at 42-41 on a 15-footer by Kosta Koufos with 10:57 to play. Koufos scored 18 of his team-high 21 points in the second half. Ohio State kept the deficit within 4-6 points most of the final 3 minutes. But Indiana, the top free throw shooting team in the Big Ten, made 19-of-24 foul shots including 9-of-10 in the final minute.