At the 10:00 mark of the second half, security in Assembly Hall walked onto the floor to escort players and coaches back into their respective locker rooms. Fans were then urged to leave the building due to a fire alarm being pull in the balcony sections per an IU spokesperson.
When fans, players and coaches returned, they returned to one of the biggest Indiana victories of the season as the Hoosiers knocked off Wisconsin 74-70.
“I want to thank our fan base, the crowd for going through what we all went through and still came back into the game and gave us the support we needed to get over the hump and win the game.” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said in the postgame press conference.
Amidst all the chaos and confusion upon the game restarting, Indiana’s Kel’el Ware had a dominant performance that could skyrocket himself into the NBA Draft lottery. Ware finished the game 27 points on an incredible 92 percent shooting clip.
In the two team’s first matchup, Ware was not active after suffering a lower leg injury during practice days before. After the game tonight, Ware spoke about how that gave him an advantage Tuesday night as he was able to sit the bench in Madison and scout the Badgers.
“Just my presence on the floor… I feel like even with me and the whole team, we were able to come as one and just come out with the win.” Ware said in the postgame press conference.
Off the heels of a rough four game losing streak, Indiana got one of their top guards back in action just in time for perhaps the biggest stretch of games for the Hoosiers. Xavier Johnson returned after being sidelined for nearly a month following his injury against Iowa on January 30th.
“Every day I go to bed thinking about what this team could have been like if we had X earlier.” Woodson said in the postgame press conference. “To have him back tonight, you can see the game changes a little bit when he's on the floor.”
Indiana is still in tenth-place in the Big Ten standings, but this win removes the Hoosiers from the Wednesday slate of the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis.
Indiana has never played on a Wednesday in the conference tournament before.
With two road games and a home matchup against Michigan State on the horizon, it’s no secret that Indiana needs to either win out or go 2-1 in their final three games to avoid that Wednesday tournament game.
“That locker room is very happy right now.” Woodson said in the postgame press conference. “When you go through a stretch like that, I don't wish that on anyone. Nobody likes to lose. Me being who I am, I hate losing.”
With Indiana fans breathing down the neck of their Hoosiers, the coming weeks will be telling of where the mindset truly is with this team. Is Indiana ready to give up? Can the Hoosiers muster up a big streak to extend their dwindling season?
The Hoosiers will look to answer these questions as they travel out to College Park, Maryland to take on the Terrapins this Sunday.
