A sly smile crept across Trey Galloway’s face as he jogged down the court.
With less than a minute remaining inside Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle Saturday night, the emotion was fitting. Galloway had just flushed a fast-break dunk, the exclamation point on Indiana men’s basketball’s 78-62 win against Washington.
Indiana’s third consecutive victory, and fourth in its last five games, wasn’t a major resume booster — the Huskies are currently last place in the Big Ten. But with an NCAA tournament bid in the balance, the Hoosiers had everything to lose.
All Mike Woodson’s team had to do was avoid a disaster. Only they didn’t just survive against Washington. They thrived. Now, with two games remaining, there isn’t just a sense of urgency.
There’s a sense of calm.
“When you win, it eases the mind,” Woodson said postgame. “You do things that you’re accustomed to doing, and when you lose, you’re looking over your shoulders. You’re worried about what people are saying. All that shit really don’t matter.”
Perhaps the most impressive part of the Hoosiers’ win was the variety of ways in which they were successful. Junior forward Malik Reneau, who missed Wednesday’s victory over Penn State due to an allergic reaction, scored a season-high 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting.
Reneau’s averaging 17.2 points in his last five games and has shot 50 percent or better from the field in all but one of those outings. Senior forward Luke Goode devastated the Huskies from beyond the arc, adding 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep.
Redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice and sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako chipped in 10 points apiece, but it was Indiana’s efforts on the defensive end that truly shined. Washington senior forward Great Osobor leads the team in points, rebounds and assists, but he was completely silenced Saturday night.
The Hoosiers held Osobor to four points in his 24 minutes. He shot 0-of-5 from the field, with his only points coming from the free throw line.
“He’s a load in terms of what he does offensively, and we knew that coming in,” Woodson said. “We just tried to take some things away from him. I thought Goode did a good job, but we double teamed him some and tried to keep it out of his hands as much as we could.”
Senior guard Anthony Leal continued to impress defensively, nabbing three steals — one of which led to a momentum-building triple from Goode — and notching a pair of blocks. Since being inserted into the starting lineup Jan. 17 against Ohio State, Leal’s defensive impact has been indispensable. He’s only eclipsed double-digit points once this season, but there’s an infectious nature of his hustle and energy.
In four seasons prior to this year, Leal started just two career games. But now, as the Hoosiers postseason push grows in a hurry, the Bloomington native has become difficult to take off the floor.
“I knew if we threw him in there, he’d be ready to play and do some positive things,” Woodson said. “All that work he’s done is paying off.”
If the script of this season feels familiar, it’s because Indiana had a similar surge last year. After losing four straight games in February of 2024, the Hoosiers proceeded to win their final four contests. Indiana’s metrics were too poor to warrant an NCAA tournament berth by then, but it has a realistic shot now.
There were certainly moments where the postseason felt like a hopeless endeavor. Indiana’s performances in the November Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in The Bahamas certainly didn’t inspire much belief. Neither did the back-to-back losses to Iowa and Illinois in January, both of which came by 25 points.
Then, as Woodson cited Saturday night, the Hoosiers squandered winnable opportunities against Northwestern, Maryland, UCLA and Purdue when the teams met at Mackey Arena.
“That’s why we’re in the predicament we’re in,” Woodson said, “But you go back get those four games, you’re sitting at the top with everybody else trying to figure out who’s going to win the Big Ten title.”
And despite it all, here Indiana sits, right on the cusp of NCAA Tournament contention.
The Hoosiers improved to No. 46 in the KenPom rankings with Saturday’s win and remain on the West Coast to face Oregon on March 4. Though the Ducks should present more difficulties than Washington, it was still crucial for Indiana to avoid a Quad 2 defeat.
It’s entirely possible the Hoosiers revert to the team they were in late January and collapse. But as the regular season dwindles along with the end of Woodson’s tenure, Indiana looks adamant on keeping its journey alive.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Category: Media
Filed to: Washington Huskies