COLUMBUS, Ohio — I asked the question two Saturdays ago, and it was legitimate. I wondered, as many of you did, if this Indiana basketball team could win games that they weren’t supposed to.
This was in the hours leading up to the Hoosiers’ very-cool game against Penn State at The Palestra in Philadelphia. The Nittany Lions, 12-2 at the time, were 7.5-point favorites. But the Hoosiers won anyway with a great second half, pulling off a nice upset.
Winning when they weren’t supposed to.
The same thing happened on Friday night in Columbus. Reeling from two straight 25-point losses to Iowa and Illinois and pushing the fragile fan base to the brink, Indiana was a 7.5-point underdog again, this time to Ohio State.
But thanks to a career night from Luke Goode — who made four three-pointers and scored 23 points — and Oumar Ballo, who had 21 points and 15 rebounds, Indiana pulled off another upset, winning 77-76 in overtime. They sealed the deal thanks to a great defensive stop from Anthony Leal on Ohio State’s final possession.
Winning, again, when they weren’t supposed to. Again.
Despite a wild spending spree in the transfer portal, Indiana had been a disappointment in November and December. They started the Big Ten with a 4-1 record, but many IU fans — who can never be happy — found ways to diminish each accomplishment. Minnesota sucks, they said. Rutgers played without Dylan Harper, they said. USC stinks too, although most IU fans can’t tell you a damn thing about the Trojans and probably didn’t even notice that they beat Illinois and Iowa in their next two games.
The wins didn’t matter, but the two brutally ugly losses to Iowa and Illinois sure did. It was the end of the road for many fans, who have given up on this team and their head coach, Mike Woodson.
But there they were in Columbus, doing enough good things to offset the usual bad stuff — poor three-point shooting, sub-par defense — that shows up at every Indiana game.
Ballo was unguardable on the block, and Indiana at long last did a good job of finding him there. He played 40 minutes, including all of the second half and overtime. He cleaned up on the boards, grabbling eight offensive rebounds.
Goode helped the Hoosiers go from down six at halftime to up 10 at with 5:12 to go. He also got help from guards Trey Galloway and Kanaan Carlyle, both coming off the bench after weeks of serious troubles. Ohio State made a run and tied it up, and the Hoosiers’ shot selection down the stretch was questionable.
But in overtime, they made enough plays to win. Goode’s three with 1:07 to go put Indiana up for good. And Leal, who made just his third career start in five years, blocked John Mobley Jr’s shot in the final second to seal the deal.
It was a heck of a win for Indiana. Ohio State, which is in the top-10 in strength of schedule, has two nice wins over ranked Kentucky and Texas teams on neutral sites, and five of their seven losses coming into the game came against ranked teams.
The gloom-and-doomers said Indiana — underdogs in seven of their nine January games — would be lucky to win even those two. It was supposed to be a month of bloodshed.
But know what’s weird? It hasn’t been. Sure, the Iowa and Illinois losses were embarrassing and anger-inciting, but the truth of the matter is that they just count as two losses — not 50. Indiana is 5-3 in the Big Ten right now, and only Michigan State (6-0) and Purdue (6-1) have more league wins.
This season is nowhere near over.
If the Hoosiers can win on the road at Penn State and Ohio State, they’re certainly capable of winning at Northwestern on Wednesday as well. And after that is a home game against Maryland on Sunday, Jan. 26. That’s certainly winnable, since the Terrapins have been horrible on the road in the league the past several years. They are 0-4 on the road this year, losing at Purdue, Washington, Oregon and Northwestern.
Indiana could very well be 7-3 in the league on Jan. 31 when they head off to play Purdue. Most Indiana fans never thought that was possible.
It still may not be, because we know full well that we can’t trust this team to play well every night. They still haven’t played 40 good minutes yet this year. And for all the good things that happened Friday night, there are still big issues, too.
Sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako had his fourth straight ugly game. He was just 1-for-5 from the field and missed all four threes. He had only six points, and is 4-for-29 from the field — a myopic 13.8 percent — and remains completely lost defensively. He has to do more.
It also would sure be nice if Malik Reneau, who’s missed four games with a knee injury, can get back on the floor. They need him. And freshman Bryson Tucker, who dislocated a finger in practice this week and missed Friday’s game, needs to get back on the floor, too.
Many of you have given up on this season, and that’s your choice. You be you. This team has plenty of flaws, to be sure. But they’ve found a way win a couple of games on the road, and they’ve got a few more chances for wins coming up.
We’ve asked if they can surprise us now and then — and they have. Can they keep it up? I have no idea.
All I know is we’ll do all of this again on Wednesday in Evanston, where the Hoosiers will try to win as underdogs again.
And, at least for the moment, I’m not ruling out another victory. It can happen. Or it can’t. That’s Indiana basketball in 2025. There’s been some good chapters so far, and some bad ones.
But the most important thing is that the story is not over. Not yet, anyway.
“Look, guys, we’re sitting here, you know, and we’ve won 14 games, man. We’re 14-5. It’s not like it’s 5-14,” Woodson said. “We’ve played some pretty good basketball and had some good stretches. The (last) two games, we got our asses beat in those two games. Ain’t nothing you can do about it now. You just have to stay away from games like that.”
Hate on him all you want — and his days certainly seemed to be numbered in Bloomington — but he’s exactly right. This team is still right in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth, and it’s not over yet. There are still12 games to go.