Fifth-year senior guard Trey Galloway closed out the 3-point attempt in the right corner, extending his right hand into Winthrop University graduate Nick Johnson’s face. The guard bounced on his right foot three times as his triple went through the net, turning to an ecstatic Eagles bench.
Simultaneously, Galloway stoically watched the event unfold then slowly jogged up the court. Redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice held his hands out, signaling to his teammates to stay calm.
The groans and grumbles from the Hoosier faithful mixed with the ecstatic cheers from the Winthrop players and fans. A palpable sense of worry cast over Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and not for the first time this season.
Except this wasn’t like other games — Indiana men’s basketball was truly on upset watch.
Leading 69-68 with a little more than three minutes remaining, the Hoosiers responded impeccably. Winthrop failed to score a single point for the rest of the evening as Indiana ended the game on an 8-0 run, closing out its nonconference schedule with a 77-68 win Sunday night in Bloomington.
Unlike previous contests, Indiana began with a quick pace. A hustle play from Rice to steal the ball on the hardwood and call a timeout earned a couple of claps from head coach Mike Woodson, demonstrating a show of effort that most Hoosier performances have lacked this season.
Similarly, Indiana nailed its first 3-pointer of the game, coming from senior forward Luke Goode. Considering the Hoosiers shot 24.6% from behind the arc in their last three games, Goode’s triple appeared to represent a break from their perimeter shooting woes.
That was anything but the case.
In fact, Goode’s 3-pointer was the only Indiana triple of the game. But attributing the close contest to Indiana’s 3-point shooting — or lack thereof — is lazy, as Winthrop only managed 6 triples on 23 attempts.
“Shooting, it’s a funny thing man,” Woodson said postgame. “They were all good looks, so I can’t sit here and complain that they were bad shots.”
The best example of Woodson’s message is Goode, who has been Indiana’s most dangerous threat from 3-point range. After drilling his first perimeter attempt, the Illinois transfer went 0 for 8 in his first start of the season.
While the box score indicates Goode was not afraid to shoot, that was hardly the case. In the second half, the Fort Wayne, Indiana, native received the ball with no defenders around him. Rather than shoot the 3, he passed to Rice in the corner, who hoisted a contested shot that missed badly.
Being optimistic, Indiana’s victory displayed its ability to grab offensive rebounds and limit turnovers, as the Hoosiers had 14 and eight, respectively. But on the flip side, Winthrop secured 12 offensive rebounds and only committed three more turnovers than Indiana.
The pattern continued for the Hoosiers — solving certain flaws while subsequently creating new ones. Their 3-point shooting was not an issue early in the season while their turnovers racked up game after game. Now, the inverse is true.
Indiana’s victory over Winthrop didn’t require a top performance, as the Eagles sit 197th in the NCAA NET rankings. But the same was said against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Dec. 21, Miami University on Dec. 6 and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro on Nov. 21.
Rutgers (7-5, 1-1 Big Ten) enters Bloomington on Thursday as the first Big Ten opponent, with 17 conference games after it. The Scarlet Knights are better in the NET than all the aforementioned teams, sitting in 91st place and 37 spots better than UNC Greensboro in 128th, the next best squad.
But for a squad searching for an NCAA Tournament berth, Indiana needs to begin building a resume. And while Rutgers would only be a Quad 3 win, a victory would begin the Hoosiers’ most important stretch of the season with positive momentum, as the top teams of the Big Ten will eventually present those resume-building opportunities.
However, first and foremost is Rutgers, as Woodson and Rice expressed postgame. How Indiana handles the Scarlet Knights could signal a turning point for the program — or spell out a disaster waiting to happen.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa) and columnist Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
