INDIANAPOLIS – Oumar Ballo spun to his left to try and take the lead as Indiana trailed Oregon 30-29 with 1:53 left in the first half. Instead of giving the Hoosiers the advantage, the ball wedged between the rim and the backboard, sitting in elevation over the floor inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Like the ball, Indiana is now stuck waiting for its NCAA Tournament fate for the next three days after falling to Oregon 72-59 on Thursday. For the first time in his Indiana career, Mike Woodson lost his opening round game in the Big Ten Tournament.
“I don’t think today’s game is an indication of how we’ve been playing the last two and a half weeks,” Woodson said.
Ballo’s wedgie shot plays significance because of the aftermath that followed. Oregon’s lead went from one to eight in a matter of 92 seconds, and while Indiana failed to score during the final 1:53, the Ducks headed into the break leading 37-29.
Indiana found punches to throw in the second half, opening up the period on a 6-0 scoring run, but Oregon simply did not break. This trend continued for the second half as that was one of the four times that the Hoosiers brought the score within two points, and never took the lead or tied.
Of the times that Indiana brought the game to two, the final time came at the under-eight-minute media timeout. The score was 56-54, and at the under-four timeout, Indiana had not scored and was trailing 61-54.
While Oregon did not have an explosion offensively, they found calm through Indiana’s pressure to pull away. The slow methodical Duck offense led to difficult shots being taken, but they were made.
“We made them take tough shots…they just hit some timely shots, and you know sometimes you hit those shots and sometimes those shots get hit on you,” Myles Rice said.
Keeshawn Barthelemy of the Ducks was a large culprit of the tough shot makers, as seven of his nine points came in the second half. The biggest was the dagger 3-pointer with 1:31 left in regulation to give Oregon the 12-point lead.
If 59 points was any indicator, the offense was few and far between for Indiana. The Hoosiers shot a woeful 25-for-69 (36.2%) from the field against Oregon. This was the sixth time this season that they have shot under 40% from the field, and the fourth-worst percentage on the year as well.
“We missed a lot of chippies around the rim with Ballo and Malik (Reneau),” Woodson said of the shooting struggles. “When they’re not leaving (Luke) Goode and Mack (Mgbako) and giving you those looks…we got to make plays around the rim.”
Reneau may have shot 8-for-15 from the field which statistically is not poor, but like Woodson said, there were a handful of the misses simply from being impatient and rushing what typically is a routine look. Ballo on the other hand, really struggled with his size going 4-for-11 in the afternoon.
“I blame myself first, I don’t think I played the way I’m supposed to,” Ballo said.
Up next for Indiana is the wait for Selection Sunday. There is quite a lot of uncertainty around when and where the Hoosiers will end up. As of 1 p.m. Thursday, ESPN had Indiana in the Last Four In.
“I think we’re more than deserving,” Goode said. “I don’t know what the history is with teams not making the tournament without a Quad 2 through 4 loss, I think that’s something people need to take into account.”
Indiana is a perfect 15-0 in Quad 2-4 games. Their marquee wins of the season are at home against Purdue, at Michigan State, and the season sweep of Ohio State. The Hoosiers are 4-12 in Quad 1 games, with the road Penn State game qualifying as the fourth.
“I know that we are a top 64 team in the country, so I’m pretty confident,” Anthony Leal said.
Resume aside, the Selection Committee has quite the discussion, as there is a real possibility that Woodson coached his final game for Indiana.
“All I’m concerned about is our players…I’ll spend time with them until the Selection Committee makes a decision on what they’re going to do,” Woodson said.
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Selection Show takes place on Sunday, March 16, starting at 6 p.m. Indiana is treating these next days as business as usual, as the team continues to train and wait for its NCAA fate.
