COLUMBUS, OH. — Just 346 days ago, Indiana entered the locker room at halftime at the Schottenstein Center down to the Ohio State Buckeyes, and in need of a spark.
Finishing the first half shooting 33% from the field, the Hoosiers came out in the second half taking clear control. But it was the dagger from deep from Indiana-native Anthony Leal that set the 76-73 win in stone.
On Friday night, Indiana came out of that same halftime locker room following a poor first half showing, also shooting 33% from the field, down 35-29. It was then yet another second half adjustment that brought the Hoosiers all the way to overtime.
And from one Hoosier native to another, Indiana's latest dagger came with just one minute left in overtime when Oumar Ballo picked up the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Luke Goode, who drained the corner 3-pointer to put the Hoosiers up by one.
That would ultimately be the game-winner, as Indiana picked up its second Quad-1 win of the season over Ohio State, 77-76.
“We were down eight I think late in the first half,” Indiana forward Luke Goode said. “We came together and said, you know what, let’s change the script. Let’s flip the script and go out there and get a win.”
Coming off of arguably its worst loss of the season to Illinois, Indiana decided to make a change to its starting lineup. Head coach Mike Woodson elected for Leal as one of the starting five, replacing Trey Galloway, in hopes of coming out with some much needed fire. But the first half of play seemed to be more of the same for the Hoosiers.
IU concluded the first half shooting 10-for-30 from the field and 1-for-9 from the 3-point line. It seemed as though overall the effort was there, but the shots just weren’t falling.
Another unexpected adjustment came just about four minutes into the game when the Hoosiers’ second-leading scorer, Myles Rice, was charged with his second foul of the game. He would not return for those remaining 16 minutes of play.
In his place came Stanford-transfer Kanaan Carlyle, who entered this game averaging 19 minutes per game. In the first half alone, Carlyle totaled 15 minutes on the floor. In the end, Carlyle played one of his best games in his Hoosier career, concluding the night with 13 points and four rebounds in 36 total minutes of play — a season-high for the sophomore.
“Kanaan was huge tonight,” Woodson said. “I just hope he bottles it up and, you know, carries it forward. These games are coming awfully quick, and you can’t run from them. I’m going to need Kanaan and the supporting cast to play at a high level.”
On Friday night, the supporting cast did just that. Alongside two 20-plus point performances from Ballo and Goode, the Hoosiers played one of its best halves, and were able to pick up its first true road win of the season.
And it was just about five minutes into the second half that set things in motion when Goode banked a 3-point shot, putting the Hoosiers up 43-41 — giving IU its first lead since its early 8-7 advantage just four minutes into the game.
From then on and throughout the final 25 minutes of the game, Ballo, Carlyle, and Goode combined for 37 of IU’s 48 points in the second half and overtime.
“I need that,” Woodson said. “(Ballo and Goode have) been on a few teams, and speaking in terms of Ballo, both he and Goode have won at a high level, and you expect that from them. They make winning basketball plays down the stretch.”
The Hoosiers now travel back to Bloomington with a conference win in their pocket that they desperately needed.
And despite this being their 14th win of the season, the Hoosiers are taking this one with a bit more pride.
“We represent Indiana basketball tonight,” Goode said. “Anthony (Leal) guarding their highest scorer of the game, that’s Indiana pride right there. Getting stopped, going into overtime after we should have won in regulation in an away game, that’s what we do. So, I feel like tonight we represented the brand as best as we could.”
Indiana will look to keep up the brand and its momentum next week when they’re back on the road to face Northwestern on Wednesday. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. Eastern in Evanston.
