Freshman Romeo Langford took a moment to think before giving off a slight smile when beginning to talk about his game winning shot.
In the recent games against Iowa, Ohio State and Michigan State, Langford had the ball in his hands with a chance to tie or win the game. Each time, he elected for a 3-pointer instead of sticking to his strength, driving to the basket.
As Wisconsin’s D’Mitrik Trice hit all three free throws with nine seconds left to tie the game, Langford was given the ball and trusted to make the winning play.
Once he passed half court, freshman guard Rob Phinisee was about to set a screen but elected to just slip under the defender to open up the right side of the driving lane.
The defender flinched for just a second which gave Langford the opportunity to blow by him. As Langford lunged toward the basket, he finished over the outreaching arms of a pair of defenders to score with 0.8 seconds remaining on the clock.
“Finally, I hit one,” Langford said. “The past two times I had it in my hands at the end of the game it didn’t come as we planned. I just learned from my mistakes.”
The layup secured the 75-73 victory for IU over No. 19 Wisconsin in double overtime. It was the first win for IU in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall since Jan. 3 against Illinois.
After hitting six 3-pointers in the first half, IU led at halftime for the first time since Jan. 30 against Rutgers.
IU eventually extended the lead to as many as 13 points with 12:40 remaining in the second half, but almost couldn’t withstand the ensuing punch that Wisconsin threw back.
The Badgers managed to go on a 20-3 run in a little less than six minutes to eventually take the lead with 6:53 remaining. In the second half, IU only shot 8 for 22 from the field.
“Well, tough, hard fought game to say the least,” IU Coach Archie Miller said. “Obviously, both teams, I thought, really competed and played hard. Got to give Wisconsin a lot of credit. They’re a terrific team.”
With two minutes left in regulation, one of the worst things imaginable for IU took place.
Morgan fouled out with nine points and 15 rebounds, leaving IU without its star forward for the remainder of the game. Despite it seeming like a situation that IU couldn’t afford, players like freshman forward Race Thompson and junior forward De’Ron Davis held their own in the paint against senior forward Ethan Happ.
Happ led Wisconsin with 23 points and 11 rebounds but eventually fouled out in the second overtime as he also went 1 for 4 at the free throw line in both overtime periods.
“When you play Wisconsin, the ball is going inside 80 percent of the time,” Miller said. “I thought our guys hung in there pretty tough tonight. Ethan Happ is a really good player. You don’t score 2,000 points and get 1,100 rebounds just by chance, so he’s going to be tough to stop.”
Phinisee had a chance to hit the game winning shot at the buzzer but his 3-pointer rattled out and forced the game to the first overtime.
At the end of the first overtime, sophomore guard Aljami Durham air-balled a long 3-pointer as each team only managed to only score six points a piece in the period.
With 15.5 seconds remaining in the game, Phinisee found Davis alone at the basket after a sequence that almost resulted in an IU turnover. Davis scored while being fouled on the attempt.
Davis missed the free throw, and IU clasped to three-point lead before Wisconsin capitalized on game-tying free throws Trice. Langford took matters into his own hands at the end to win the game for the Hoosiers.
After the likes of Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon hitting big shot after shot against IU down the stretch of both games and other teams doing the same, it left some IU fans believing that the team was cursed.
Langford ultimately ended that talk with the clutch shot of his own.
“Hopefully, we can be a team that continues to kind of thrive here late in the season and find a way to get another win one after another,” Miller said.
