The talent is evident with Indiana basketball.
After the Hoosiers impressive road win at The Palestra where they took down Penn State 77-71, it looked as if it may have been a hangover game in their return to Bloomington as Indiana trailed 22-12 against Big Ten newcomer USC with 10:23 remaining in the first half.
“We got out to such a bad start and gave them momentum early,” Mike Woodson said in the Hoosier Country postgame show.
This team had a fight, however, as Indiana would go on to defeat the Trojans 82-69 in the two squads’ first ever meeting at Assembly Hall.
Key players had big-time performances as the Hoosiers advanced to 4-1 in Big Ten play.
Transfers are the winners
Now there are quite a few transfers within this Indiana team, five to be exact, but a trio were the standouts in the Hoosiers third straight conference win.
Oumar Ballo
The big man had his way all game long against the Trojans finishing with 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field, while also adding eight rebounds to his impressive outing.
The big was quick down the floor in transition, aggressive on the glass, and punctuated some of his points with some emphatic slams to the delight of the Hoosier faithful.
“He played well…we’re going to need him to continue to play at this level,” Woodson said.
Ballo came into this game sixth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (66.7%), and after Wednesday’s game, the Arizon transfer has eight games at or above that percentage from the field.
There looks to be a spark in Ballo’s play after being ruled out of the final non conference game of the year against Winthrop on Dec. 29. In the three games since then, Ballo is averaging 21.7 points, 11 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
After Malik Reneau went down in the early moments of the Rutgers game on Jan. 2, the Arizona transfer has kicked his game up a notch to aid the Hoosiers on their win streak.
Luke Goode
If it was not already known, this guy can shoot. Now for the 2024 portion of this season, the Illinois transfer was struggling from beyond the arc, but at the turn of the New Year, in addition to Goode being added to the starting lineup, he has shown the Big Ten just what the sharpshooter can accomplish.
Goode had the hot hand from downtown and made the Trojans pay from the 3-point line. The Fort Wayne native had a torch going 4-for-5 from deep. Goode would finish the evening with 16 points.
Goode has now started all three games in 2025 for Indiana, and it looks as if “new year, new me” is ringing all to true for the senior. Goode was 17-for-56 (30.3%) from 3 in the 13 games played in 2024, and since the turn he is 10-for-15 (66.7%) from 3.
Myles Rice
It took the guard a little longer to find his groove, but when he did, his presence was felt in a big way for the Hoosiers win.
In the first half of action, especially the first 10 minutes, Rice was a bit frantic on the floor as he coughed up the ball a few times, and just looked out of sorts.
Rice showed patience in this one, however, as he finished the evening with the second most points (19), and was very efficient from the charity stripe going 9-for-11.
It was not just the scoring where Rice flashed as the point guard led all players with nine rebounds and adding a game high six assists.
“I don’t know how he did that, but he did and I’ll take that,” Woodson said on Rice’s rebounding.
Rice has shown this season that his impact can be felt in many different areas, as the nine boards set a season high for the Washington State transfer.
Final thoughts
Indiana is still undefeated on its home court as the Hoosiers are now 11-0 at Assembly Hall. To turn around a 10-point deficit into a 13-point victory is quite large in instilling confidence within a team that is oozing with talent.
Some not named performances were also impactful in a game like this, as the veteran Trey Galloway added his own 11 points while dishing out six assists. Galloway and Rice’s ball movement in this one was pivotal to Ballo’s big time performance.
On the glass, Indiana already came in with a sizable advantage as the Hoosiers were averaging 39.1 rebounds to the Trojans 32.1 rebounds per game.
The Hoosiers flexed their muscles in that category winning the rebound battle 40-33, while also hauling in 11 offensive boards that turned into eight second-chance points.
Now there is still work to be done within this team, obviously. The Hoosiers were a subpar 6-for-21 (29%) from 3 on Wednesday, which now marks the seventh time Indiana has shot under 30% from deep.
Win No. 13 may not have been the prettiest, but a win is a win, especially in a gritty Big Ten conference. The Hoosiers have some momentum riding into another road test when they head to Iowa City, Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes on Jan. 11.
