The Hoosiers announced a starting five of Myles Rice, Anthony Leal, Mackenzie Mgbako, Luke Goode and Oumar Ballo.
Indiana basketball is shaking up its starting lineup tonight at Ohio State. The Hoosiers announced a starting five of Myles Rice, Anthony Leal, Mackenzie Mgbako, Luke Goode and Oumar Ballo.
The lineup change includes fifth-year guard Trey Galloway heading to the bench in favor of fifth-year guard Anthony Leal. This will be Leal’s third career start and first since the 2021-22 season.
The lineup change comes after Indiana lost consecutive games by 20-plus points. After IU’s recent blowout defeat against Illinois, 94-69, Indiana coach Mike Woodson alluded to switching the lineup in hopes of better starts to games.
“I got to make some changes,” Woodson said after IU’s loss to Illinois. “We haven’t been getting off to a good start in terms of who we’ve been starting. Sure, we do miss Malik (Reneau). He’s a big piece to the puzzle. But I got to put guys in there that I think is going to get us off to a good start and see if we can maintain it over a 40-minute ball game.”
In 12 games this season, Leal is averaging 12.6 minutes, 2.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. His minutes have steadily increased over the last five games, playing at least 17 minutes in all but one game during that stretch.
Galloway, who has made 78 career starts and started 12 of 18 games played this season, has struggled recently. Over the last three games, Galloway is shooting 8-for-24 from the field, 3-for-12 from 3-point range and has scored 21 combined points, including zero points against Iowa.
Indiana’s struggles to start games well this season has led to a plethora of other issues. In a home loss against Illinois, the Hoosiers allowed a 15-2 run early in the first half, eventually watching their deficit balloon to 28 points by halftime. Against Iowa, the Hoosiers trailed by 13 points midway through the first half, ultimately falling 85-60 in Iowa City.
IU’s recent two-game losing streak has drawn the ire of Hoosier fans. Against the Fighting Illini, chants of “fire Woodson” and audible boos came from from the Assembly Hall crowd. By halftime, a large portion of fans headed for the exits and did not return to their seats.
“We’re not playing tough enough,” Goode said postgame. “We need to come out and be ready and stick to the game plan and the scouting report. That’s been our biggest issue so far. We come out and let teams kind of punk us in a sense.”
Added Leal: “We just aren’t matching anybody’s toughness or togetherness or effort right now. I think that’s the problem.”
Indiana is 13-5 overall and 4-3 in Big Ten play this season. The Hoosiers have suffered five blowout losses against quad-1 teams this season and own just one win over quad-1 teams. Indiana entered Friday at No. 62 in the NET rankings, which is used to help select the NCAA Tournament field.
