Todd’s Take: Indiana Leaves Fans Wanting More … But In A Good Way

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Before Indiana’s men’s basketball regular season finale at home against Ohio State, much of the buzz surrounded the traditional Senior Day speeches.

It would be the last time that stalwarts like Anthony Leal, Trey Galloway would get a chance to speak to the crowd. The most emotional moment of all was to be Mike Woodson’s final words to the crowd.

However, as reporters arrived at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, they were told that there would be no Senior Day speeches after the game and no words spoken by Woodson.

This was a buzz kill. The Senior Day speeches go back at least to the 1980s. Clearly, Indiana did not want to lose control of the message like what arguably happened on Senior Day in 2024 when Woodson spoke of “true fans” and when Galloway and Leal made emotional appeals to the fans to back them in the face of withering criticism.

Many who knew there would be no speeches wondered before the game what the fan reaction would be to abandoning a tradition many look forward to enjoying at the end of the year. Was this going to be a self-made error on the part of athletics that would anger fans who enjoy the speeches?

As it turned out? Those concerns were much ado about nothing. Indiana rallied to beat Ohio State 66-60 in front of a raucous, supportive crowd, particularly a very spirited student section.

No one was in the mood to complain. Everyone was in the frame of mind to celebrate and accept a good thing when it came to them.

The seniors who would normally get a chance to speak – their Senior Day words were played in a video – played a big role in the victory. Woodson’s final home game as coach was emotional, but the narrative surrounding him didn’t overwhelm the mission at-hand.

It was an important mission. Indiana had to win on Saturday. A loss would have been very damaging to Indiana’s fragile NCAA Tournament credentials. The Hoosiers wouldn’t have been out, but would have had a lot of work to do in the Big Ten Tournament to position themselves to make the field. They would have had to do it the hard way by playing on day one against a lesser foe before trying to stack wins that would help their resume.

That pressure is now largely gone. The victory over the Buckeyes might have tipped the scales in Indiana’s favor to make the NCAA Tournament – though a victory over Oregon on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament would be helpful to cement their status in safe territory.

It was a happy ending that didn’t seem to be in the cards for most of the contest. It was an ugly game, as Indiana too often reverted back to the frustrating form they demonstrated for the majority of the regular season. Shots weren’t falling, passes were forced, Ohio State was able to create some second-chance opportunities. Mistakes mounted that set the Hoosiers back.

With 12:12 left in the game, it looked bleak. Ohio State led by 10. There was little to suggest the Hoosiers had what it took to save themselves from themselves.

But here’s where a lot of credit has to go to the crowd. Indiana cut Ohio State’s lead in half with a second-chance layup by Leal and a 3-pointer by Trey Galloway. It was a short run, but the crowd sensed the moment and got very loud.

Indiana’s revival didn’t happen right away – Ohio State would go back up by eight, only to have Indiana rally to take a one-point lead, with the Buckeyes going back up by five with five minutes left – but the atmosphere shifted noticeably.

A crowd and student section that had booed the Hoosiers during the season. A crowd that chanted “Woodson Sucks.” A crowd that walked out of Assembly Hall crestfallen after close losses to Maryland, Michigan and UCLA, was fully in the Hoosiers’ corner.

Indiana was lifted by it, but just as importantly, Ohio State was rattled to its core.

On a possession in which both Woodson and Galloway admitted they didn’t know the shot clock rules, Galloway fired from 30 feet with 1:24 left and brought down the house. His 3-pointer put Indiana up 61-56, and Ohio State did not respond in kind.

It was an emotional finish. Galloway capped his Indiana home career not only with a memorable shot, but he became the 56th Hoosier to reach 1,000 career points.

“The seasons, they are always so long, and there’s times where things looked worse and looked like everything is just not going your way, and there’s times where you feel like you’re on top of the world,” Galloway said.

“The good teams are able to balance that and able to stay even keel. We’ve done a great job of that recently to be able to bounce back from big wins or bounce back from big losses. And so we weren’t doing that early on in the season, and now we’re starting to figure that out. And it’s helping us and we’re winning games,” Galloway added.

Maybe the fans are letting the angst go too? For most of the season, Indiana left fans and observers wanting more in the pejorative sense. So much seemed to be left on the floor. So many performances had been underwhelming. So many goals seemed beyond the Hoosiers’ reach.

On Saturday, for the Hoosiers those storm clouds parted at least for one day. Woodson, who announced his intention to resign in February, was even feeling the good vibrations after the game.

 “Maybe I’m leaving too soon. I don’t know,” Woodson said in his postgame CBS interview.

It hasn’t been a memorable year for Woodson, and at times, it was nightmarish. The hot seat at Indiana is far hotter than most around the country.

However, Woodson is an Indiana legend who deserved a chance to have his final moment as coach at Indiana on his home floor to be a happy one.

“My whole life was shaped in this building. It’s going to be tough,” said Woodson, who walked away before he became visibly emotional, surrounded by his adoring players.

Even the most avowed Woodson detractors had to be moved by that.

The cliché about tournament basketball is that you want to play your best basketball once the tournament comes. Indiana is probably doing that, but more importantly, the attitude around the team has changed.

Fans are excited about what the Hoosiers can accomplish. Indiana will be a No. 9 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and won’t be a NCAA Tournament contender – disappointing based on preseason expectations – but you take what you can get when you get it.

Indiana can still finish this season on a positive note. So why knock it? This is the time when support means the most – as the Assembly Hall crowd showed with its vociferous support on Saturday.

Indiana is still leaving us wanting more … but in a good way.