Just about two weeks ago after Indiana’s nine-point loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions, everything seemed lost. The Hoosiers were not playing good basketball. Picking up their fourth straight loss with just four games remaining, Indiana basketball was coming to an end for the season.
But you must never count out Indiana.
Following their 70-58 victory on the road against a Minnesota team who had won its previous five home games, Indiana has now kicked it into high gear at the perfect time.
“We just take it a game at a time,” Mike Woodson said on the Big Ten Network postgame. "We’ve got Michigan State coming in on Sunday, every game is important for us if you’re talking about getting into the big dance."
It was a team effort on display Wednesday night with the Hoosiers dishing out 28 assists on 30 made buckets. That isn’t a stat you see on a nightly basis. Trey Galloway led the charge with 11 assists while securing his first career double-double, scoring 13 points.
Across the board, this game in Minneapolis seemed like the Hoosiers’ best performance of the season. As a team, Indiana shot 55 percent from the field as well as 63 percent from deep, hitting five triples. Credit the big man Kel’el Ware as the game’s leading scorer, dropping an impressive 26 points just days after failing to eclipse double figures against Maryland.
“It’s just at that point where we’re just now starting to connect as a team,” Ware said to the Big Ten Network’s Stephen Bardo postgame. "If we continue to bring it to the Big Ten Tournament, then I feel like we’re going to make a run there."
Indiana’s victory did come with a cost. Miami transfer Anthony Walker went down in the second half after tallying his sixth point of the contest. After being observed by the Hoosiers’ long-time trainer Tim Garl, Walker was helped off the court by teammates and down into the tunnel.
Walker was seen at the end of the game smiling and cheering his squad on.
“He gave us some positive minutes when our two big guys got in foul trouble, so I’ll know tomorrow more about his injury and see where he is,” Woodson said in the postgame press conference.
With this victory, Indiana moves into eighth place in the Big Ten standings with just days remaining in the regular season. A dance with Sparty is on the horizon with the Hoosiers in prime position to put themselves in a great situation when they travel back to Minneapolis next week for the Big Ten Tournament.
The Hoosiers are nearly assured a seed outside of the Wednesday contests that put them in the bottom four of the Big Ten. As Indiana continues to heat up, anything is possible in March.
Michigan State comes into town Sunday afternoon in a massive game that could tip the scales on either team’s seeding in the Big Ten Tournament. This game was circled on the calendar of many before the season began and it still holds as much weight as it was expected to. A packed Assembly Hall awaits with so much to play for.
