[Postgame 3-2-1] What We Learned From Indiana Victory Over Wisconsin

Here are three key stats, two observations, and one lingering question from Indiana's 74-70 win against Wisconsin.

[Editor’s note: this email was written by Josh Pos and Jerod Morris. The writing is Josh’s unless otherwise denoted.]

Over the hump at last?

Indiana picked up their second victory in February, a victory over a struggling Wisconsin team in a game that was delayed 15 minutes because of an apparent fire in the building (or at least a fire alarm).

Last night’s victory marked Indiana’s first win in the usually-friendly confines of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall since the January 30th win over the Iowa Hawkeyes.

This is Indiana’s first victory over a team that is a projected at-large bid for the NCAA tournament.

“That locker room is happy,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “It's like we got that monkey off our back, so I'm happy for them.”

With the victory, Indiana improves to 15-13 on the season and 7-10 in conference play.

“Tonight was Indiana basketball at it’s best I think.”

Now here are three key stats, two observations, and one lingering question coming out of Indiana’s 74-70 win over Wisconsin.

Did you miss last night’s postgame show? Get caught up here:

---

3 Meaningful Stats

1. +2 from 3P and FT

by Jerod

Wisconsin outscored Indiana from the 3-point line 24-18. Indiana outscored Wisconsin from the free throw line 10-2.

Add it all up, and that’s a two-point advantage for the Hoosiers from the 3-point line and free throw line combined.

It’s late, and I’m basking the happiness of a win, so I have no desire to look up how many times Indiana has been a net positive in these two stats before this season … but my late-night hunch is that it’s not very often.

What this does is clear the way for Indiana’s elite 2-point efficiency to carry the team home, which is exactly what Kel’el Ware and Malik Reneau did by going a combined 17-20 from the field.

There have been far too many nights when a massive deficit from 3 or a meaningful deficit from the free throw line has created a hole too big for Kel’el and Malik to dig Indiana out of. Last night was different, both because Indiana was more efficient shooting and because Indiana’s defense harassed many Wisconsin 3-point attempts and gave them nary a free attempt at all.

If Indiana wants to actually win consistently playing this way, this is what the math equation will often have to look like.

2. Trey Galloway had a dozen assists.

It has been a struggle for Trey this season as a shooter, which has made offensive facilitation all the more important.

The senior only had 6 points on 3-10 shooting, including 0-4 from deep, but Galloway’s 12 helpers guided Indiana down the stretch.

“He had a solid game. That's what I expect from him,” Woodson said of the senior. “I told him I was very pleased with his play tonight.”

It is the second time in four games that Galloway has amassed a career high of assists, with the last one being in a losing effort at home against Northwestern.

“We trust when the ball is in his hands he can make basketball plays,” Woodson added. “I thought tonight he delivered for us; made a lot of great plays.”

Galloway doesn’t need to be scoring the basketball to have a good game. Indiana can make a run down the home stretch of the season if they can continually get 6-10 assist nights from him.

3. 11-11 in bench points

by Jerod

Much like the 3-point line and the free throw line, an area where Indiana has been getting killed this season is bench points.

Occasionally a Hoosier or two will step up to supply some help, and often when that’s happened Indiana has notched a victory (remember Anthony Leal against Iowa and Ohio State, CJ Gunn against Michigan, or even Kaleb Banks against Louisville)?

Tonight, the bench production was spread among four players:

• Xavier Johnson returned and delivered five points and an assist (plus five rusty turnovers)

• Anthony Leal scored three points and was a team-high +13 in 17 minutes because of key plays like his blockout on Wisconsin’s penultimate possession.

• Anthony Walker scored two points and delivered some high-energy help and some high-energy mistakes.

• Payton Sparks grabbed a tough rebound and hit a free throw.

Individually, none of those performances were ones to write home about. But this Indiana team will take 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, and a block off its bench any day of the week. It’s not great production, but it’s meaningful production in a game where the opponent could only muster 11 bench points of its own.

Kudos to each guy for making a positive contribution on the court, and to the starters for ultimately carrying the heaviest production load.

---

2 Important Observations

1. The fire alarm came at a perfect time.

Through the years, the walls at Assembly Hall have seen unbelievable things happen. Last night’s fire alarm debacle was one of the most interesting events in the 53-year history of the historic gym.

Wisconsin was in the midst of a 12-4 run to tie the game at 54, but suddenly, fans were flocking towards the exits with 10 minutes left— not because they felt that the game was slipping away from the Hoosiers. It was because the fire alarm was going off.

Fans had to evacuate the building, and the game was paused for 15 minutes.

After the brief delay, Indiana regained composure down the stretch and closed strong in front of the fans, who came back into the arena to cheer on their team.

“I want to thank our fan base, the crowd for going through what we all went through and still came back into the game and gave us the support we needed to get over the hump and win the game.”

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard had jokes after the game.

"I thought it was a great timeout for whoever from Indiana pulled the fire alarm cause we were making a run,” Gard said postgame.

Call it what you want, but the game ball should go to whoever pulled the fire alarm because it was indeed the perfect timeout for Indiana.

2. Kel’el Ware is a darn good ballplayer.

We have seen it all year, but it is time to start giving Kel’el the credit he deserves for his effort all season long.

Ware’s 27-point performance was the 8th time the sophomore from Little Rock has eclipsed the 20-point threshold this season.

The Oregon transfer started the game 8-8 from the field, scoring 20 first-half points while collecting 7 boards.

“It was unbelievable. He had a man's game,” Woodson said of his sophomore’s performance. “We needed every bit of it in order to win this game.”

In addition to his offensive dominance, Ware dominated the paint defensively with five blocks.

Kel’el only has a handful of games left in an Indiana uniform. Let’s hope Indiana can make the most of those games and go on a run.

1 Lingering Question

Will we see a performance like this again down the stretch?

by Jerod

I sure hope so. And I sure want to believe …

The reason why everyone felt so positive after this win is because it felt like a legitimate Assembly Hall performance, which resulted in what those types of performances always results in: a win.

It was imperfect-but-tough from Indiana, with some incredible flashes of individual talent and also some of the most extended sequences of coherent team basketball we’ve seen all season.

Mike Woodson had his team ready to play, and they delivered one of their most complete efforts of the season. I tip my cap.

Now can they do it again?

The Hoosiers have three winnable games left on the schedule: at Maryland, at Minnesota, and home for Michigan State. They’ve already beaten the first two, and the latter is struggling enough to find itself closer to the bubble than ever imagined.

But none of us have seen enough consistency from these Hoosiers to have any faith at this juncture in the team going on a run down the stretch.

These Indiana Hoosiers lost the faith of the fan base a few weeks ago — not the support, but the faith. I don’t know many IU fans who felt legitimately confident about IU’s chances against Wisconsin.

That’s why the only path toward rebuilding trust is game-by-game. Last night was a step in the right direction, for the players and the head coach. I’d love to see another one on Sunday and for this team to find a way to end this season with a crescendo, not a whimper.

The base showed last night: we’re still with you!

No one would blame you if you don’t believe. I don’t truly either at this point.

But last night’s game was a reminder to keep paying attention, keep supporting. These are our guys and they delivered a strong performance last night. I’m proud of them, and it was a lot fun.

And if we’re not going to celebrate and enjoy the wins, what the heck is the point of it all anyway?

Now let’s do it again soon, shall we? A single win only satiates for so long …

---

Thanks for reading!

Make sure you vote in the postgame polls for Game Ball and Hoosier Hustle Award, and leave your takeaways on last night’s game.

We’ll talk to you again on Thursday for AC Radio, and then on the Sunday for the IU-Maryland game.

— Jerod Morris and Josh Pos