BLOOMINGTON— They do it all of the time. Reading the CliffsNotes from the Indiana University men’s basketball 65-64 victory over Michigan State Sunday afternoon, one must wonder if the Hoosiers were auditioning for a spot on the TV show “Survivor” or for a better seed in the Big Ten tournament.
They came out sizzling, faltered, gave the lead away, had a player injured and forced from the court, rallied, gave the lead back again, and pulled out a triumph in the last seconds.
Freedman
That was the story of IU’s last regular-season game – and the story of the regular season — for an up-and-down team that has been on a high lately carrying a four-game winning streak.
The wackadoodle Hoosier season continues Thursday night in the Big Ten post-season tournament in Minneapolis with 18-13 IU facing the winner of a Wednesday Penn State-Michigan game. By beating Michigan State, Indiana received a bye into the second round when only two weeks ago people were pondering whether or not the Hoosiers could finish 2023-24 with a winning record.
Also, in a sport where nothing is certain these days with the transfer portal, holdover extra eligibility from the COVID-19 season, and whims of the moment, on Senior Day the Hoosiers gained two players for next year.
Trey Galloway, from Culver, and Anthony Leal, from Bloomington, both declared to a roaring Assembly Hall crowd that they plan to compete for a fifth year in 2024-25. Both are 6-foot-5 guards.
Galloway left Sunday’s game with an injury after seven minutes and did not return. Leal is a local hero, Indiana’s Mr. Basketball from 2020 for Bloomington South. He already has an undergraduate degree and a realtor’s license, so if anyone says he has the key to the city, that is pretty much true.
There was zero chance Leal, who has bided his time for playing time, would transfer anywhere else.
“There’s no other university I want to represent,” he said
And Galloway, who has been critical to IU’s successes this year, noted to head man Mike Woodson, “I wouldn’t want to have any other coach than you.” It was announced only a couple of days earlier Woodson will be back.
Leal and Galloway gave traditional Senior Day speeches, along with guard Xavier Johnson and forward Anthony Walker, who really are out of eligibility. Maybe Leal and Galloway just want to make speeches twice.
At least they could talk this time after a win, a circumstance that was definitely in jeopardy, even if at game’s start it appeared the result might be an Indiana rout over the Spartans, also 18-13.
After 11 minutes, IU led 24-7. Of course, Indiana fans had seen that type of dominating behavior before without a satisfying conclusion.
Sure enough, by halftime the lead had shrunk to 34-29 and by four minutes into the second half, the Hoosiers had gone from five points ahead to five points behind. Michigan State, led by senior guard Tyson Walker’s 30 points, rolled over IU like a tidal wave.
Until Woodson called upon his nuclear weapon, 7-foot sophomore center Ke’lel Ware, whose overwhelming rebounding (12) and soft touch mixed with hard dunks (28 points) lifted the Hoosiers.
“He’s been phenomenal, been playing unbelievable, which is kind of nice to see,” Woodson said of Ware, who is from Arkansas and a transfer from Oregon, who brought a reputation to Indiana of being a lazy player, but now looks NBA ready.
After falling behind by seven points with about 10 minutes to play, the Hoosiers, aka Ware and forward Malik Reneau (16 points), regained the lead with its inside game.
In the final minute, it came down to failure to convert on alternate possessions and Ware breaking a 64-64 tie with one-of-two free throws after missing his first five foul shots in the game.
When Walker missed for the Spartans, the rebound bounded deep, was scooped up by Johnson, who enthusiastically, on a dead run, dribbled out the clock.
“It’s tough losing a key player,” said Woodson of Galloway and who said he was going to keep going to Johnson and Leal as seniors. “That’s a part of sports. But we hung in there. We got the big stop we needed coming down the stretch and got the rebound to secure the win.”
Ware was aware of his pre-Indiana reputation, yet despite his excellent season, said he still feels he has more to show to the world.
“There’s always still more to prove, so I don’t feel like I’ve proven myself just yet,” Ware said.
He has in Indiana, for sure. And IU is still doing some proving, too, as the Big Ten tournament approaches.
“We’re playing as good as any team in the country right now based on the last four games,” Woodson said.
Going 4-0 in four games is simple math. Playing as well as anyone in the country may be stretching things. What Indiana does have is opportunity, to keep winning, to keep going.