Indiana Basketball Stays Hot With a Win at Washington

With its tournament resume on the line, Indiana basketball went to Seattle and beat Washington in convincing fashion to move to 18-11 on the season and 9-9 in Big Ten play.

The Hoosiers have struggled with slow starts this season that regularly left them trailing at halftime, but came out fast against Washington, grabbing a 14-5 lead in the first five minutes of play that they never surrendered.

After missing the last game to illness, Malik Reneau came off the bench to lead all scorers with 22 points on 10-13 from the field in 25 minutes of action. He also grabbed six boards and had two assists.

Reneau’s 25 minutes also allowed Mike Woodson to get Oumar Ballo some much needed rest. Ballo played 36 minutes, including the entire second half, against Penn State Wednesday, but saw just 15 minutes of action against Washington.

In addition to being able to rest Ballo a bit, Woodson got 17 minutes from Kanaan Carlyle, who hadn’t played more than 15 minutes in a game since mid-January. This gave Trey Galloway, who had played 34, 37, and 38 minutes in Indiana’s last three games, some rest.

Galloway was productive in his limited time on the floor, tallying eight points and seven assists as Indiana’s starting point guard. He cooled off from 3-point range, going 0-5, but has settled into the lead ball handler role with Woodson bringing transfer guard Myles Rice off the bench of late.

Indiana also got a strong performance from Luke Goode, who scored 18 points on 5-9 shooting from 3-point range. Goode is another Hoosier, who has seen an uptick in playing time of late, playing 30 minutes or more in all of Indiana’s last five games.

The Hoosiers shot well as a team from deep, going 9-23 from behind the arc while holding a dangerous Washington team to 6-23.

Though he was held scoreless, Anthony Leal once again showed his value to the team with four rebounds, four assists, three steals, two blocks, and zero turnovers in 34 minutes of action.

The win moved Indiana up two spots in the NCAA’s Net Rankings and preserves the team’s undefeated record against non-Quad One opponents. The three game winning streak is Indiana’s first such streak since winning three straight Big Ten games to open January.

Indiana now has two days off before playing a second-straight road game, at Oregon, Tuesday night. That game is Indiana’s final Quad One game on the schedule for the regular season.