Indiana men’s basketball entered its final scheduled non-conference matchup of the season against Winthrop University on Sunday afternoon without one of its key pieces. Sixth-year center Oumar Ballo, the Hoosiers’ leading rim protector with 1.8 blocks per game, sat out with a lower body injury.
Slowing down a top 20 scoring offense without a staple defensive contributor proved to be a tall task for Indiana, but despite shooting 1 for 20 from beyond the arc, the Hoosiers prevailed with a 77-68 win over the Eagles.
Coming off a quiet 4-point performance against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Dec. 21, redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice led all scorers with 18 points Sunday.
Senior center Langdon Hatton stepped up in Ballo’s absence, tallying 7 points and 11 rebounds in a season-high 26 minutes on the floor — he played just 42 total minutes over the Hoosiers’ first 12 games this season.
The two teams exchanged 7-0 runs early in the first half in quick succession. Indiana used its significant height advantage to take a 23-16 lead, with 18 of its points scored inside the paint.
Winthrop cut its deficit to as few as 1, but a nearly four-minute scoring drought allowed the Hoosiers to pull away once more. Despite an off-balanced, buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the Eagles’ senior guard Kasen Harrison, Indiana entered the half with a 41-37 lead.
The Hoosiers advantage fluctuated between 2-8 points for most of the second half. Foul trouble limited the minutes of Hatton and junior forward Malik Reneau who rotated spells in the post, which allowed Winthrop to attack the rim without facing aggressive close outs.
The Eagles cut Indiana’s lead to a single point with just over three minutes remaining in the game, with the score at 69-68. During the following possession, it was Hatton who grabbed the rebound of a would-be game-tying layup and added two free throws on the other end of the floor.
Hatton’s makes from the charity stripe were part of an 8-0 Hoosier run to end the game. Although Winthrop’s latest lead was 4-2 a minute and a half into the game, there wasn’t a lack of excitement in the first ever matchup between the programs. The margin between the two sides never extended into double digits.
Indiana will resume conference play at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night against Rutgers (7-5, 1-1 Big Ten) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
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.
