LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Imagine the hot discussion around this Indiana University men’s basketball team today if the Hoosiers would have closed out that game over Kansas in December.
Or if the locker room understood the necessity of beating Army by 28 instead of 8 or Morehead State by a dozen instead of 1.
Or if the Hoosiers had not waited until their third and final opportunity to take care of mighty Penn State.
But that’s what happened Thursday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Instead of losing to the Nittany Lions for the third time since Feb. 3, Mike Woodson’s team shrugged off the absence of injured guard Trey Galloway and survived Penn State, 61-59, in their Big Ten Tournament opener.
GET THIS: Anthony Leal, a guy who averaged 2.3 points over the season, scored the final two of his 8 points with 5 seconds left to win the game.
GET THIS: Leal snuck behind Ace Baldwin, the Big Ten defensive player of the year, to snatch a missed shot by IU forward Malik Reneau and softly bank in the game winner.
“We call that a pro,” Woodson said. “A true pro … he hits the biggest shot of his college career, the put back. So that’s beautiful for him, I think, in terms of the hard work he’s put in.”
GET THIS: It was Leal’s fourth rebound but only his first on the offensive glass in 24 minutes of playing time as a reserve. He was needed because his best friend and fellow senior, Galloway, could not play because of a knee injury.
“I know with the shot clock running down and everything that we're gonna get a chance to get a shot, but the the odds of that shot going in aren't always high,” Leal said.
“But the odds of losing on a tip-in or rebound is something we talk about a lot on defense. If there's a buzzer beater, we’ve got to be boxing out."
“So I knew that if he did happen to miss a shot to go in there and be able to try to make something happen was possibility and I'm blessed that I was able to do that."
One miracle down, three miracles to go.
That’s what the Hoosiers need to make the NCAA Tournament, starting with Friday night when IU meets Nebraska in the quarterfinals. Like Penn State, Nebraska beat Indiana twice during the regular season.
Although Indiana has won a season-best five straight games since senior point guard Xavier Johnson returned from an elbow injury, the Hoosiers can only make the NCAA Tournament field by winning the Big Ten Tournament
GET THIS: Indiana has never won the Big Ten Tournament.
IU only gained one spot, from No. 85 to No. 84, in Ken Pomeroy's power formula for winning this game. They improved from No. 75 to No. 73 in Bart Torvik's metrics.
The Hoosiers started the game primed for the moment. Kel’el Ware won the tip, guiding the ball to Johnson, to whipped it Malik Reneau, who advanced it to Ware, who dunked it.
It was Indiana’s most efficient four seconds of the night — and it launched IU toward 10-2 start.
Woodson’s team was not that efficient for the reminder of the first 20 minutes, but they were good enough to never trail and finish the half ahead 32-27.
Was it solid defense by Indiana or dreadful offense by Penn state? I’ll leave that to sharper analysts.
Either than the Nittany Lions made 7 of their 33 field goal attempts, 21.2%.
Contrast that with the 57.4% that Penn State shot while defeating IU in Bloomington on Feb. 3 or the 45.2% Penn state shot in a home victory Feb. 24.
The second half was packed with lead changes. Indiana trailed by as many as six. The Hoosiers pulled through because Ware carried them with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman guard Gabe Cupps made two critical shots from distance.
They forced Baldwin to miss a dozen of his 15 field-goal attempts on a night when Penn State shot 28%.
And, of course, Leal delivered his game winner.
They might have clinched a spot in the National Invitation Tournament by beating Penn State. But even at 19-13, Indiana remains several furlongs off the NCAA Tournament discussion with power formula rankings that have been stuck at No. 80 or higher for most of the season.
That is the price Woodson’s team has to pay for losing twice to Penn State and once to Rutgers, as well as a collection of thumpings from UConn, Auburn and Purdue.
Maybe the Hoosiers can get some payback against Nebraska, which beat IU by 16 and 15.
“It’s just taken us awhile to really put it together as a team,” Woodson said.
“Losing Gallo hurts man but you know we can't stop here and complain, man, we just got to next man up whoever plays has got to give us something while he's out there to help us win.”
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