The tide is turning in Bloomington.
The foundation is being laid and a plan is being formulated. Tough as nails, gritty, and hard-nosed are words that come to mind. Defensive aggression is leading to efficient transition and half-court offense. Indiana, whose postseason hopes were a moonshot just four days ago, now sees itself nearing the right side of the bubble.
Indiana (17-11, 8-9) won its second game consecutive for the first time since Jan. 8 on Wednesday night, defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions (15-14, 5-13) 83-78. The 83 points were the most the team has scored since Jan. 2 in the win over Rutgers.
“These guys are playing for something,” Mike Woodson said postgame. “We're trying to get in the tournament.”
It took the Hoosiers some time to get rolling early, going on another patented four-plus minute scoring drought, entering the halftime break trailing 39-37. Indiana took a 52-51 advantage with 14:28 remaining in the second half on a Myles Rice right-handed layup, its first lead since 31-30 at 3:05 remaining in the first.
The Hoosiers, with the Assembly Hall crowd faithfully behind them, found their stride with striking similarities to the victory over Purdue on Sunday. Indiana never extended its lead as it did Sunday. In fact, the team only led for 10 minutes and two seconds, but this team has been battle-tested in tight games all season, and was able to pull it out on Wednesday.
Trey Galloway drilled two 3s for a personal 6-0 run to put Indiana up 73-69 at the 5:12 mark, the spark that burnt too bright for Penn State to overcome. The Hoosiers shot 67% from 3, their best mark of the season by over 13%. Indiana was able to knock down important 3s in the clutch for what felt like the first time this season.
“I've been saying that shit for three years,” Woodson said. “Guys have been getting good looks but hadn't knocked them down, and tonight we made them. It was nice to see. I hope that's a good sign moving forward.”
Oumar Ballo had his way all evening, contributing 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists on 8-for-14 shooting. His inside scoring was powered by multiple passes that threaded the needle by Luke Goode, Galloway and Mackenzie Mgbako. Quick ball movement led to 24 assists on 29 made shots, the most assists the team has dished out in Big Ten play, and two dimes off their top mark so far this season.
“I think, like I said, guys trusting each other and making the right reads and making the right play,” Galloway said, “because there's times where you might think an open shot is a good shot but we can always lead to better shots. I think we're doing that and being really unselfish.”
Five players scored in double figures for Indiana, with Goode, Rice, Galloway and Mgbako joining Ballo. There was a concentrated effort to force the ball to the interior and allow Ballo to use his strength to score, but it was his passing acumen today that changed this game, hence his five dimes.
Ace Baldwin Jr. led Penn State in scoring with 22 points but became an enemy of the state in Bloomington in the process. Baldwin Jr. had an incident in the first frame with the student section that quickly moved him to the student's bad side. Boos rang through the arena each time he possessed the ball and “Fuck Ace Baldwin” chants roared down multiple times.
It was just one of many chirpy moments in this contest. Another occurred after Nick Kern Jr. scored for the Nittany Lions and then blocked Galloway’s layup attempt on the other end. Galloway would rattle home a 3 after the inbound and spent his entire backpedal with a glare in Kern’s direction.
This shows the freedom that the Hoosiers are playing with and Woodson is coaching with. Leal, Galloway, Ballo, Goode and Woodson all know what the end of the season will bring; their last time on the Indiana bench. The gravity of these games hasn’t escaped them either, they know what each game means being on the bubble.
“I think just really cherishing these moments because when it's over we're all going to miss it and it's going to be tough to really understand what it meant to put this uniform on and to go to war with our brothers every day,” Galloway said.
Indiana now heads to the West Coast for a trip to play the Huskies of Washington and the Ducks of Oregon. The final road trip the team will take before senior night here in Assembly Hall. Each player, not just the seniors, understands the moment and they are doing anything they can to take advantage of it, one win at a time, as a way to honor their coach in his last ride, and a way to cope with the realization that they control when this journey ends.
