Halfway through the second half Monday against Minnesota, the Hoosiers had been running up towards their biggest lead of the game. Heading down the lane into traffic, Myles Rice threw a behind-the-back pass to Bryson Tucker, who tossed it off to Kanaan Carlyle behind the arc along the Indiana bench.
A man in front of him, Carlyle made him miss and drove in for the 2-point jumper, which turned into a 3-point play as Minnesota’s Femi Odukale got charged for the foul.
The Hoosiers had secured their biggest lead of the game, and Assembly Hall roared with the sound of “Hoo-Hoo-Hoo Hoosiers” chants.
Those chants continued once the final buzzer sounded, as Indiana men’s basketball opened up its Big Ten slate with an 82-67 win over Minnesota on Monday night.
It was an all-around performance with five Hoosiers scoring in double digits in Indiana’s eighth win of the season, with the Hoosiers arguably playing their best ball this season in a time it was needed the most.
“We all came out and we were all on the same page,” Tucker said. “We knew for the first Big Ten game, we have to make a statement. Yes, we definitely could have done better, but I think we did a good job just coming in and staying focused and working super hard.”
Leading the Hoosiers with five assists and ending the night with 14 points was Carlyle, who made his first appearance back for the cream and crimson since suffering an undisclosed injury in the Hoosiers’ 89-73 loss to Gonzaga on Nov. 28.
Carlyle ended the night shooting 5-for-8 from the field, scoring three of Indiana’s four total 3-pointers on the night.
For the first time this season, however, Carlyle’s success came from off the bench as Trey Galloway maintained his starting role on Monday night. But for Carlyle, when and where he plays makes no difference, because no matter what, his goal remains the same.
He wants to win.
“I’m perfectly fine with coming off the bench,” Carlyle said. “I want to win games, whether it’s being the sixth man, eighth man, 10th man, starting two guard, I don’t care. As long as we win, I’m here to do my job, to play defense and provide what I can on offense. That’s it.”
There seemed to be a turning point with just about seven minutes left to go in the first half.
The Hoosiers had quickly gone on a 6-1 run to retake the lead. With Minnesota unable to respond, Carlyle secured the defensive rebound, found Galloway downcourt, who threaded the needle to Tucker for two.
All of those occupying the seats of Assembly Hall had risen to their feet as Minnesota called its first timeout of the game. Hoosier fans had finally seen the resiliency and fight out of this team that they knew they’d been capable of.
Following that play, the Hoosiers continued to extend their run to 16-1 over seven minutes of play, and concluded the first half shooting 63% from the field.
“I thought we played great in the first half. The ball moved,” Mike Woodson said postgame. “In the second half, we started really well, I thought, but we got to get some things fixed, too. I thought we had some lapses where we just didn’t play good offense.”
Compared to the first half, the Hoosiers shot 50% from the field in the second half — a feat that isn’t the worst of the season, but not close to the level of the success that IU had seen in the first half of play.
Highly contributing to Indiana’s success on the night was Tucker, who tallied 16 points and six boards on the night.
In his Big Ten debut, Tucker contributed with a career night, leading Indiana to its first conference win of the season.
“When we recruited him, we thought he would be a big piece to the puzzle, and he is,” Woodson said. “I thought tonight he came in and played a solid ball game, and hopefully that will be a nice carryover into our next game against Nebraska.”
The Hoosiers continue to have freshmen making an immediate impact, as Tucker continues to prove himself as an early Big Ten Freshman of the Year contender.
Tucker and the Hoosiers will look to continue their success later in the week, as Indiana will travel over to Lincoln, Nebraska to continue its Big Ten slate. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. Eastern.
