Indiana's Kanaan Carlyle Takes Positive Step Against Ohio State

Indiana’s offseason backcourt additions gave coach Mike Woodson optimism that his team could bounce back from missing the NCAA Tournament last season.

“I’ve learned in this short period of time that I’ve been in college, you win with good guard play,” Woodson said in May. “… We had to really amp up our backcourt and get better, and I thought we’ve done that.”

Washington State transfer Myles Rice and Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle were at the top of that list after averaging double-digit points as freshmen. But it hasn’t always gone smoothly for them as Hoosiers.

Rice dealt with foul trouble Friday night at Ohio State and played a season-low 15 minutes, finishing with just four points on 2-for-6 shooting and two assists. Carlyle started the season's first six games but lost that job after back-to-back losses to Louisville and Gonzaga in the Bahamas. He entered the Ohio State game averaging just 4.5 points per game and shooting 27.6% from the field.

Indiana needed another scorer to step up as it trailed Ohio State by six points at halftime. Oumar Ballo and Luke Goode led that effort, and Carlyle put together perhaps his best half of the season in the final 20 minutes at Value City Arena in Columbus.

The game was knotted up at 52-52 at the midway point of the second half, but Carlyle broke the tie with a mid-range jumper. That was his first bucket during a roughly six-minute stretch in which Carlyle scored nine points, giving the Hoosiers a 70-61 lead with 3:27 left in regulation.

“Kanaan was huge tonight,” Woodson said postgame.

Carlyle drove hard and converted two layups through Ohio State fouls during that stretch. That drew out greater emotions than we’ve seen all season from the 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, who yelled and flexed as his teammates picked him up from the hardwood after absorbing the foul.

ANOTHER K9 AND-ONE.pic.twitter.com/oFDgWAAPLk
— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) January 18, 2025

Carlyle’s contributions were vital to Indiana picking up the 77-76 overtime win over the Buckeyes and alleviating some of the sting from its previous back-to-back 25-point losses to Iowa and Illinois. But beyond what the win meant for the Hoosiers as a team, it could improve Carlyle’s confidence and be the first step in him consistently producing at a higher level.

He finished with 13 points, his second-highest scoring game as a Hoosier and just his third double-digit scoring effort this season after averaging 11.5 points per game for Stanford as a freshman. He made 5-of-12 attempts from the field, 1-of-3 3-point attempts and 2-of-5 free throws, leaving room for improvement from an efficiency standpoint. But Carlyle also added four rebounds, one assist, a steal, played solid defense and didn’t turn the ball over in a season-high 36 minutes.

As Indiana approaches Wednesday’s 7 p.m. ET game at Northwestern, part of a challenging stretch deep into February, more performances like Friday’s from Carlyle would certainly help the Hoosiers get off the NCAA Tournament bubble.

“I just hope he bottles it up and carries it forward, man,” Woodson said. “These games are coming awfully quick, and you can’t run from them. So I’m gonna need Kanaan and the supporting cast to play at a high level, man, because that’s how you win on the road and then you gotta take care of home.”

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