The Minute After: Ohio State
Thoughts on a 76-73 win against the Buckeyes:
Things weren’t going well early in the second half.
After arguing what he believed was a missed goaltending call, Malik Reneau said something to a referee. That garnered him a technical foul. Jamison Battle made both of the ensuing free throws. Indiana then allowed Ohio State two offensive rebounds and three shots on the next possession. Bruce Thornton splashed in a 3-pointer on that third shot, putting the Buckeyes up 18 points at 47-29 with 18:58 to play.
IU’s body language and energy looked of defeat.
Were the Hoosiers about to get run out of the gym by an Ohio State team that entered the contest losers of seven of eight? It certainly looked like it.
But Trey Galloway didn’t think so. He said no.
The Indiana senior, as best he can, ran the show for the Hoosiers. He played all 20 minutes of the second half, continually getting downhill off the perimeter for shots at the rim or in the paint with his floater game. Galloway also excelled from deep, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts. He shot 7-of-10 overall and hit 2-of-2 for the line en route to 19 second-half points. Galloway also dished out four assists after the break, none more important than his kick-out pass to Anthony Leal in the right corner. Leal’s 3-pointer with 22 seconds left put the Hoosiers up for good at 74-73.
“He stepped up,” Mike Woodson said of Galloway after the game. “He wanted the ball. We put him in a lot of situations, pick-and-rolls, where he had the ball in his hands, and he delivered.”
Galloway didn’t do it all by himself. Reneau, despite his early technical, also came up big. The sophomore scored 16 points of his own over the final 20 minutes on 6-of-8 shooting (4-of-6 from the line). Leal also made two key free throws late. After a Galloway steal on Ohio State’s possession after the aforementioned Leal 3-pointer, Kel’el Ware had a breakaway attempt to give Indiana a 3-point lead. But as Ware stepped through the paint with no defender ahead of him, he appeared to misstep and his right leg buckled. It altered his shot attempt and it didn’t fall. But Leal followed up the shot and was able to snag a key rebound. Leal was fouled and hit both at the line.
Galloway (19), Reneau (16), Leal (6) and Ware (4) accounted for 45 of Indiana’s 47 second-half points. Mackenzie Mgbako was the only other Hoosiers to score, chipping in two free throws. The Hoosiers ended the game on a 23-8 run, just sneaking by an Ohio State team that’s been known to have trouble keeping second-half leads. The live stats box score also had Indiana at an impressive 1.56 points per possession in the second half.
Yes, Indiana’s first half wasn’t great. The Hoosiers shot it poorly. They scored just .76 points per possession thanks to a 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) mark from the line and 1-of-7 (14.3 percent) performance from deep. They surrendered 1.1 points per possession to the Buckeyes, a defensive performance that was torn to shreds on the Peacock broadcast at half by Jordan Cornette.
And yet, when all looked lost, Indiana stuck with it and pulled out a Big Ten road victory.
Just like the Hoosiers drew it up, right?
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Ohio State Buckeyes