At 3:59 p.m. on Friday afternoon, Indiana released a statement announcing that head coach Mike Woodson would step down at the end of the season. Heading into Saturday on a four-game losing streak, the program had suddenly been hit with yet another shock in its 2024-25 season.
Just 21 hours following the announcement, Indiana took the court in its first game back in Bloomington since its heartbreaking loss to Maryland on Jan. 26. Thirteen days later, the Hoosiers suffered an eerily similar result, falling to No. 24 Michigan, 70-67, on Saturday afternoon.
“You’ve got to tip your hat and give (Indiana) a lot of credit, I do,” Woodson said. “Guys fought, but Michigan was the better team tonight. So you’ve got to give them credit. They played their asses off.”
It wasn’t the best of halves that the Hoosiers had seen to start the game. Shooting just 12-for-34 from the field, IU concluded the first half down 43-27, once again heading into the tunnels to the sound of several boos throughout Assembly Hall.
Overall, production was limited for everybody representing the cream and crimson besides Indiana forward Malik Reneau. Leading all scorers at halftime, Reneau gathered eight points, shooting 4-for-6 from the field in just 15 minutes of play. Reneau finished with a team-high 16 points.
But to put it simply, nothing was falling for the Hoosiers, and almost everything was for the Wolverines.
“We just couldn’t make shots the first half,” Woodson said. “I thought they had their way from an offensive standpoint because our defense wasn’t there. But the second half, we were a lot better.”
Indiana’s stark contrast of production in the second half was much to the thanks of Mackenzie Mgbako, who put together 15 points and six boards in the final 20 minutes alone.
The Wolverines were held to 27 points, shooting 0-for-9 from beyond the arc, while the Hoosiers came up with 40 total points, leading this game to be yet another to come down to the wire. But Mgbako’s dominant second half alongside nine points from Anthony Leal, was once again not enough to put this one away for the Hoosiers.
The loss now puts IU on a five-game losing streak, which matches the most consecutive losses in Woodson’s tenure — the only other five-game skid happened in Woodson’s first year as Indiana’s head coach.
It’s a dull time within the IU program, and Woodson has made it clear that these losses, as well as this week’s news, has taken a toll on his team.
“We haven’t been the same team for awhile,” Woodson said. “For whatever reason we’ve dug a hole. I’ve done a terrible job in really putting them in the best position possible to win, I think. Emotionally, these kids have taken a beating a little bit, and it’s my job to try to lift their spirits and keep ‘em heading in the right direction because there’s still a lot of basketball left.”
There’s no doubt that a lot of basketball remains, but the road does not get any easier. The Hoosiers will head back on the road this week up to East Lansing, to face the No. 9 Michigan State Spartans.
It’s a game with several implications on both ends of the sidelines, as MSU head coach Tom Izzo seeks to pass Bob Knight’s all-time Big Ten winning record.
Indiana and Michigan State will tip off at 9 p.m. Tuesday on Peacock.
Gallery: Indiana versus Michigan
