Indiana Hoosiers Men’s Basketball, Folks.
This isn’t Indiana’s first comeback victory even in the last 30 days, but man did that one feel like the season in a nutshell.
Nothing this year has been perfect, and there was plenty to hate about that game. But by the end of 40 minutes, Indiana got the win and potentially solidified its spot in the NCAA Tournament, which is all you could have asked for from today’s game.
Indiana will now have a Big Ten Tournament first round bye, momentum heading into the postseason, and an undefeated Quad Two record for the regular season.
Here are three things we learned:
Mike Woodson
Love him or hate him – it doesn’t seem like there’s a ton of in-between – Mike Woodson is looking like he will have gotten Indiana to the NCAA Tournament three times in his four years as head coach.
This isn’t returning the Hoosiers to the status they held when his coach, Bob Knight, was the coach, but it isn’t nothing either. His predecessor failed to do so once.
That said, we also saw why he will not be returning as Indiana head coach next year. After eking out a surprise overtime win in Columbus with a small ball lineup he was forced to use with Malik Reneau being injured, he went back to two bigs on the floor and Indiana found itself in a hole.
Personally, I’m glad he’s going out on a high note. It wasn’t a perfect tenure, but Indiana’s never had a perfect coach. Woodson is leaving the program better than he found it for whoever his successor is.
Anthony Leal
From the opening tip, you could tell that Anthony Leal was locked into this game, his last in his hometown of Bloomington. When Ohio State’s leading scorer, Bruce Thornton, missed his first shot of the game, it was Leal who came down with the defensive rebound.
Leal finished the game with eight rebounds, tied with Luke Goode for the game high. He also had a pair of blocks, four points, and a steal.
There were times today when Leal looked like the only Indiana player that was able to appreciate and respond to the moment, and that’s exactly why he’s been a staple in Woodson’s starting lineups of late.
He is a Hoosier, through and through.
Trey Galloway
Trey Galloway’s three to put Indiana up 61-56 was the biggest shot I can remember an Indiana player hitting since Yogi iced the Big Ten Title on March 1st, 2017. Readers, please sound off in the comments if you can think of a more significant bucket.
He’s had an up and down season, but Galloway walked the walk tonight and may have singlehandedly gotten Indiana into the NCAA Tournament with his 3-point shooting in the second half.
As a fifth year senior who has started in all five of his seasons, Gallo is cementing his legacy in the Indiana record books. Over the last two games, he’s set the record for most games in program history and passed the 1000 point mark for his career.