BLOOMINGTON — No matter how things play out for Indiana men’s basketball going into March, one thing is clear about this team.
Despite a turbulent season with plenty of distractions and extenuating circumstances, the Hoosiers are still fighting hard.
IU entered Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday coming off its biggest win of the season, with a west coast trip looming, and faced a Penn State team sitting near the bottom of the Big Ten standings. This was a prime letdown spot for a team battling to keep its improbably optimistic NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
The Hoosiers, not long ago, looked like a team checked out on its season. But they now look like a group playing for something, and that showed on Wednesday. Rather than backing down and wilting in critical moments of a tight contest, they stepped up and made big plays. And that helped Indiana pull out an 83-78 win.
“This thing goes fast, and we have to take every game as important and we have to finish the season strong, not just for us but for the fans,” Oumar Ballo said after the game. “And I feel like they deserve that, and we’re pushing forward for that.”
This wasn’t a perfect performance by Indiana (17-11, 8-9 Big Ten), with an unsightly free-throw clip and some poor shot selection that handed Penn State (15-14, 5-13) some leeway.
But despite trailing for a majority of the second half, the Hoosiers never flinched. Trey Galloway knocked down two of the bigger shots of Indiana’s season, back-to-back 3-pointers within a 36-second span to turn a two-point deficit into a four-point lead. Minutes later, Myles Rice — who’s never afraid to insert himself in big moments — hit a difficult corner three.
Those sorts of shots weren’t falling for this team for most of January. Indiana’s inability to capitalize on moments like those throughout the Big Ten season is how this team wound up in such a dire situation heading down the stretch. But the Hoosiers have sensed their opportunity still alive in this campaign, and even though some had already left them for dead, they aren’t going down without a fight.
“I think we’re coming together and we know we’re a better team than we’ve shown,” Galloway said. “And we still have a chance and we’re fighting for a spot in the tournament and we’re fighting for just getting better and pushing our record in the Big Ten. We’re taking it one game at a time.”
But Indiana’s resurgence has been about more than just hitting shots.
On too many occasions this season, IU played with lackluster effort and exhibited frustrating decision-making. And while those issues aren’t completely and totally resolved, there’s been a huge difference in the last few weeks. Indiana’s battling harder on the glass. The defense has performed better. Players are laying out for loose balls.
Associate head coach Yasir Rosemond, on Monday’s radio show, suggested the Hoosiers realized their fans simply wanted to see them play hard and display good effort. Their performance against Penn State backs that up.
“At this point in the season every game is important, but this one is special because we know we’re playing for something big,” Ballo said. “And it was super fun to have our fans backing us up and keeping us in the game to the point that we took over. Anytime we get a home win, super fun.”
Indiana does look well aware of what it’s playing for. Yes, its NCAA Tournament hopes are showing life — IU is currently projected to make the Big Dance, per Bracket Matrix.
But even beyond that, this team has just played with a different vibe over the past few weeks. Perhaps Indiana finalizing Mike Woodson’s status as head coach eased some tension in the locker room. The Hoosiers no longer have to worry about whether their performance would get their coach fired; they can now just go play ball. In the five games since IU’s announcement that he’ll depart at the end of the season, Woodson has coached in a manner suggesting he’s also relieved of that pressure — he can make adjustments and lineup tweaks without worrying about ripple effects for future seasons.
The timing also aligns with the final stretch of college basketball for Galloway, Ballo, and Anthony Leal. The trio is making sure to appreciate the opportunity in front of them while they still have it — and that mindset has helped revive Indiana’s season.
“I think we just have to keep reminding each other to cherish every moment because wins and losses, it’s all special because you’re learning through it all,” Galloway said. “So I think just really cherishing these moments (is important) 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. So I think just really just cherishing every moment, highs and lows.”
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