3 Things Indiana Needs To Do To Win As The Hoosiers Travel To Washington

In their first season in the Big Ten, Washington basketball has struggled, but Indiana can’t take anything for granted on its long road trip.

Indiana's Luke Goode ((10) drives past Penn State's Zach Hicks (24) during the Indiana versus Penn St. mens basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It would be very easy for Indiana’s men’s basketball team to take Washington for granted.

The Hoosiers play the Huskies at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday. Washington is 13-15 overall and 4-13 in the Big Ten, good for last place in the 18-team league. The Huskies are hanging by a thread as far as qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament is concerned. At a minimum, they have to win two more games and get help elsewhere in the conference.

Inside conference play, Washington has no obvious strengths. They rank 11th or worse in every major statistical category except 3-point shooting. The Huskies have made 34.6% from long range and rank ninth in Big Ten games.

On paper, Washington should be easy pickings for the Hoosiers, but nothing should be taken for granted.

For the most part, Indiana has handled “inferior” teams this season. The Hoosiers (NET: 57) were not beaten by any nonconference team lower than them in the NCAA NET rankings. Against Big Ten teams lower than them in the NET, Indiana is 5-1. (Northwestern is still ahead of Indiana in the NET at No. 55.)

That loss sticks out, though. Indiana was completely non-competitive in an 85-60 loss at Iowa on Jan. 11. At the time, it was considered a bad loss due to the margin, but given that the Hawkeyes have won just three out of 12 games since then, it’s also a bad loss in the sense of it being against an inferior team.

This is a similar situation to the Iowa game near the start of the Big Ten race. A road game against a team that isn’t very good, but that can hit threes on a given night, and that has at least been competitive on its home floor. Indiana will need to be wary.

Here are three things the Hoosiers need to do when they face the Huskies:

1. Make Great Osobor One-Dimensional

Washington Huskies forward Great Osobor (1) dribbles against the Oregon Ducks during the second half at Matthew Knight Arena. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Washington coach Danny Sprinkle was hired from Utah State in the 2024 offseason. He brought his best player at Utah State – Great Osobor – with him.

Osobor, a 6-foot-8 forward, is a multi-faceted talent. He averages 14.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists. The common denominator in Washington’s four Big Ten wins was when Osobor was able to thrive in at least two of those three statistical categories.

He can be a moving target in that sense. In a January win against Maryland, he had 20 points and 14 rebounds. In a win at Minnesota on Feb. 1, he had 16 points and 10 rebounds. He had 16 points and nine rebounds in a Feb. 8 victory over Northwestern, but then was productive in a different fashion one week later at Penn State. Osobor only had six points, but had 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

When Osobor is one-dimensional, Washington is a lot easier to contend with. Osobor’s supporting cast – guards Tyler Harris (12 ppg, 4.8 rpg), Zoom Diallo (11.1 ppg) and Mekhi Mason (9.5 ppg) have their moments, but aren’t consistent. Cut off Osobor and the Huskies are placed in a compromising position.

2. Let Trey Galloway Do His Thing

Indiana's Trey Galloway (32) passes around Penn State's Nick Kern Jr. (3) during the Indiana versus Penn St. mens basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the last three games, Indiana guard Trey Galloway has averaged eight assists per game. He’s made all of this free throws and he’s been a scoring threat inside the arc. He’s converted 53.8% of his two-point shots.

There’s no need to complicate matters and it seems Indiana coach Mike Woodson is not. The Hoosiers have had success running the offense through Galloway, so why mess with a good thing?

3. Concentrate At The Line

One of the strange anomalies of the last two wins is how poor Indiana was at the line in both contests. The Hoosiers converted 65% against Purdue and 60% against Penn State. The Hoosiers missed 10 free throws against the Nittany Lions.

Indiana got away with it against Purdue because their defense was sound. Indiana got away with it against Penn State because they made 66.7% from 3-point range.

A team can’t count on getting away with it forever, though. Missed free throws were costly in losses to Iowa (61.5%), Maryland (60%) and at Purdue (56.3%).

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