Indiana men’s basketball needed one more basket. Trailing 79-78 with three seconds remaining in the game, senior forward Luke Goode stood up from the bench, made his way to the scorer’s table and entered the contest as a late-game substitution.
As Goode walked toward fifth-year senior guard Anthony Leal, the Hoosier faithful inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall began to boo. They wanted Leal on the floor. Instead of checking in for Leal, Goode replaced sixth-year center Oumar Ballo. The crowd breathed an audible sigh of relief.
Indiana head coach Mike Woodson wasn’t finished; there was one more adjustment he wanted to make. This time, sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako rose from Indiana’s crimson-colored bench seats.
Mgbako walked towards Leal. The Hoosier faithful booed. They wanted Leal on the floor. This time, they didn’t get their wish.
Moments later, redshirt sophomore Myles Rice’s desperation heave from the corner fell short. Leal stood four feet away from where the final shot was released, next to the bench, with his hands on his head in disbelief.
Indiana lost to Maryland 79-78 Sunday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, falling to 14-7, 5-5 Big Ten. The Hoosiers have lost four of their last five conference matchups.
It began when lineups were announced. For the first time in his five-year career, Leal was introduced as a starter for a Big Ten matchup inside Assembly Hall. The Bloomington native received a long-awaited roaring welcome to round out the starting lineups.
Leal’s first-half performance was unremarkable; he entered halftime with 0 points, two rebounds and a pair of assists in eight minutes on the floor.
The start of the second half offered more of the same and just two minutes after play resumed, he returned to the bench. By the time Leal stepped foot on the court again, Maryland led 63-57 with the help of a 13-point second half scoring burst from fifth-year senior guard Selton Miguel.
With just under five minutes remaining in the game, junior forward Malik Reneau’s hook shot cut Indiana’s deficit to just 3 points and trailed 70-67. On the ensuing possession, Leal guarded Miguel in isolation for over 10 seconds, consequently forcing a turnover.
On the subsequent fastbreak, Rice found Leal cutting to the basket in transition. After finishing through contact with his right hand, the veteran converted an and-one that tied the game at 70. Leal’s basket was part of a 10-0 Indiana run that turned a 5-point deficit into a 5-point lead.
“What makes this place so special is just being able to go on runs like that,” Leal said postgame. “This place and these fans reward tough plays and hard plays, and they notice when we're out there playing as hard as we can. They reward us with energy, and it becomes contagious.”
Maryland responded in short order.
The Terrapins quickly made it a 1-point affair, trailing Indiana 75-74 with one minute remaining. Again, Leal had the answer. He once more crashed the basket, this time finishing through contact with his non-dominant left hand.
The crowd erupted. Leal flexed to the Hoosier faithful then urged them to cheer with waving arms. In his first start in a conference matchup at Assembly Hall, he was the hero. Until he wasn’t.
After a series of mistakes, such as fifth-year senior guard Trey Galloway missing the front end of a one-and-one, allowed Maryland to retake the lead, Woodson opted to take Leal out of the game.
“I think we were trying to run a play, but then the substitutions kind of got everybody confused a little bit, trying to put everybody in their right spots,” Rice said, when asked about the final possession. “We've got to be better as players. No matter who's in the group and who's on the court. We've just got to be better.”
While Rice’s sentiment may have merit, the Bloomington native who instilled life into Assembly Hall simply wasn’t given the opportunity to finish the job. In an afternoon that had potential for a storybook ending, the Hoosier faithful’s dismay in Leal’s substitution was reinforced by a disaster final page.
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.
