Oumar Ballo flexed his biceps, shrugged his shoulders and bumped his chest with senior forward Luke Goode — while putting perhaps the final dagger in USC’s hopes of pulling a road upset.
Ballo, Indiana men’s basketball’s sixth-year senior center, gave the Hoosiers a 70-58 lead over the Trojans with an and-one layup that sealed his second consecutive 20-point outing.
Indiana (13-3, 4-1 Big Ten) cruised over the final four-and-a-half minutes, securing an 82-69 victory over USC (9-6, 1-3 Big Ten) on Wednesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
The 7-foot, 260-pound Ballo scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down eight rebounds. His performance marked the continuation of a strong three-game stretch, as he’s averaging 21.7 points and 11 rebounds per game while shooting 64% from the field in wins over Rutgers, Penn State and USC.
“He's playing better,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “He's gotten better. We're featuring him. He's a big piece to the puzzle. That's why we brought him here — to play center for us. He's played well. He's going to have to continue to play well the rest of the way through the Big Ten.”
Ballo’s surge has occurred amid a pair of notable events.
Indiana lost Ballo’s frontcourt running mate, junior forward Malik Reneau, to a right knee injury in the first 30 seconds against Rutgers on Jan. 2. Ballo came off the bench for the first time in his Hoosier career in Indiana’s win over the Scarlet Knights, which came one game removed from Ballo’s absence against Winthrop University. Woodson didn’t disclose a reason for not playing Ballo.
The reason for Ballo’s improved play? A little bit of everything: from energy and effort to the floor-spacing benefits that come with Reneau seated on the bench.
Fifth-year senior guard Trey Galloway, who dished a pair of assists on alley-oops to Ballo in the second half, said the uptick in performance from Ballo has made the Hoosiers a better team.
“We knew what we were getting with him, and we knew how dominant he was and how he has been in the past,” Galloway said postgame. “So just him getting back to that and being able to dominate games with his size in not only scoring, but just affecting shots on the defensive end, and be a leader and talking on the defensive end — those things have been so huge, and it's carried over to him playing better.”
Ballo had a two-inch and 10-pound size advantage over USC fifth-year senior center Josh Cohen, which Woodson cited postgame when discussing Ballo’s performance.
The Trojans’ initial defensive gameplan centered around playing on the top side of Ballo, with Cohen using his length to prevent easy entry passes. Ballo scored Indiana’s first bucket, a putback layup nearly two-and-a-half minutes into the game, but he endured a personal 12-minute scoring drought thereafter.
Ballo scored 8 points in the final five minutes of the first half and added 13 more in the second half. He went 9-for-11 shooting overall and 5 of 5 at the free throw line, the fourth time in his career he’s been perfect when attempting at least five foul shots. The Koulikoro, Mali, native added two blocked shots and had a team-high plus-minus of +12.
“As the game wore on, everything kind of loosened up and (we) were able to utilize him a little bit more,” Woodson said. “He delivered for us.”
Ballo wore his heart on his sleeve Wednesday night. After a turnaround jump hook gave the Hoosiers a 32-31 lead with two-and-a-half minutes to play in the first half, Ballo lowered his hand to the floor, indicating USC’s defender was too small to guard him. He flexed his muscles multiple times in the second half, riding a wave of energy as Indiana put its lead out of reach.
And as paramount as Ballo’s offensive production was to the Hoosiers’ win, his defensive effort proved crucial, too. He blocked a shot at the rim so violently in the second half that it went right into the waiting hands of USC fifth-year senior guard Chibuzo Agbo — who was standing behind the 3-point arc. His help defense and presence at the rim turned the Trojans away from the paint on several occasions.
Ballo, by all accounts, has leveled up over the past week.
Through his first 12 appearances, Ballo averaged 12.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game — adequate numbers, but far from what he’s done of late. Part of the reason for Ballo’s ascent stems from his teammates developing a better understanding of his game, Galloway said, while the Hoosiers’ spacing has improved as well.
“The way we can find him inside and the way he is able to seal guys is great,” Galloway said. “So just knowing his size is an advantage, and we're using that to our advantage. He sets screens, and that's one thing we try to emphasize is him setting screens, because he's going to be open. When he knocks guys off, we're going to find ways to get downhill or find him with that lob or drop-offs and stuff. He's done a great job of that.”
Galloway also noted Ballo has been impactful on the offensive glass, be it rebounds or tip-outs. Ballo had seven offensive rebounds against Rutgers, four against Penn State and three against USC.
“He's going to get rewarded for that because he's playing harder, and the way he's dominating the glass has been great,” Galloway said.
Ballo started 6-for-6 shooting from the field, and his first miss didn’t come until his jump-hook rimmed out with just over nine minutes to play. It was accompanied by a loud sigh from the Hoosier faithful, who’d seemingly grown to expect him to make that shot.
Perhaps Indiana fans are learning the true Ballo. Perhaps his teammates are, too. And perhaps most importantly, the Hoosiers, with seven new players, are finding their true self along with him.
“We are starting to grow and learn one another,” Woodson said. “And guys are feeling comfortable about who can do what and who can't do what. Makes a big difference. Still got a long way to go and still growing.”
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.
