Lost in Suspensions, My 3 Thoughts on Game Itself in Indiana's Loss at Northwestern
EVANSTON, Ill. — And in other news ...
Yes, there was a basketball game played Friday night, and even though the blow-by-blow of Indiana's 59-51 loss to Northwestern took a back seat to the big news of the five player suspensions, there are still a handful of things that must be discussed from what went on during the game.
I had three quick thoughts, some good and some bad. And some ugly, too.
It was a tough loss for the Hoosiers, who are now 16-7 overall and 7-6 in the Big Ten. It was the first time they've lost back-to-back games all year. Playing without starting guards Xavier Johnson and Parker Stewart plus reserves Michael Durr, Tamar Bates and Khristian Lander, the Hoosiers scored a season-low 51 points.
The Hoosiers shot just 37 percent from the field (20-for-54), only 25 percent from three-point range (4-for-16) and only 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the line. That's never enough to win a Big Ten road game.
Here's the good, the bad and the ugly from Tuesday night's loss:
The good: Trey Galloway's all-out effort
Indiana has three point guards on its roster, and none of them were available Tuesday night after Johnson and Lander were suspended and Rob Phinisee was still sidelined with a foot injury. He was at the game, but was wearing a boot on his right foot and is still nowhere near ready to return to play.
So Indiana coach Mike Woodson had to turn to sophomore Trey Galloway to play the point on short notice. The 6-foot-5 Culver, Ind., native played point guard quite a bit in high school, but he's never been asked to carry a team from start to finish like he did Tuesday night.
He fouled out with 2:36 to go, but played all 37-plus minutes prior to his disqualification. He scored 13 points and had five rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot.
"I thought Trey Galloway played his butt off tonight,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said after the game. "He hasn't played much point for us, but he handles the ball adequately enough to be able to get the ball up the floor and get us into sets.''
Galloway scored nine early points and helped the Hoosiers build a lead. They led by four at the half, and as many as seven early in the second half, but a 13-0 run by Northwestern changed things. Indiana simply wore down at the end, including Galloway, who hadn't played more than 25 minutes all year since coming back from wrist surgery on Jan. 6.
"I just think the fact that he didn't have a relief tonight, that fatigue started to set in, and he didn't have much coming down the home stretch,'' Woodson said. "He got in foul trouble, a couple of fouls they called on him. I don't know if they were fouls or not, but they made the calls, and he ended up fouling out. I thought he played well while he was on the floor.''
Galloway always plays at a high energy level, and that was the case again on Tuesday. With the ball in his hands so much, he did make a few poor decisions in traffic, but that's to be expected. He had five turnovers on the night, but the Hoosiers had only eight turnovers as a team for the game.
He laid it all on the line for a depleted team, and he deserves a ton of credit for that in his first start of the season. Don't be surprised if he stays in the starting lineup now. He's earned it.
"I think Trey played really well this game,'' said junior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, who also had 13 points. "His toughness, his grit, it showed. I think he came off ball screens really well, and he got downhill.
"He played really really good defense, and for a position he hasn't necessarily played in, I thought he did a great job. He's just going to keep working and building from there.''
There was no time where Galloway ever seemed overwhelmed by the moment. He's played a lot of basketball and understood the moment. He made the most of it.
"I knew what I had to do and come out and compete for my teammates. We were trying to get the win,'' Galloway said. "We fell short, but I thought we competed at a high level. I'm proud of the guys competing, but onto the next one. We've got to watch the film and learn from it, take everything in, and move on to Michigan State (on Saturday). We've got to be ready for them.''
The bad: Miller Kopp's tough homecoming
Miller Kopp spent the first three years of his college career at Northwestern before transferring to Indiana this summer. It was already a big deal that he was returning to Evanston, but after the suspensions, it was incumbent on Kopp to have a big game.
It was a dud.
Kopp was just 1-for-7 shooting, and 1-for-5 from three, and he scored only three points in 34 minutes. Sure, he had six rebounds and no turnovers, but the Hoosiers really needed more from him, especially on the offensive end, and didn't get it.
Kopp has been slumping for a while — he hasn't scored in double figures since his 28-point night at Syracuse on Nov. 30 — and in his last seven games, he's just 9-for-30 from the field (30 percent) and has been shut out twice.
Coming back to Evanston, I expected a bigger night from him. It was nowhere close to good. Also disappointing? Given a chance to make a big impression with extra playing time, sophomores Anthony Leal and Jordan Geronimo were both just 1-for-5 shooting. A little more from both of them would have helped, too.
Northwestern guard Ty Berry (3) defends Indiana forward Miller Kopp (12), his former teammate, during Tuesday night's game in Evanston, Ind. (David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)
The ugly: Suspensions in February a bad look
Indiana hasn't played in an NCAA Tournament since 2016, and even in Mike Woodson's first year, getting back to the big dance is critical. Letting another second-half lead slip away on Tuesday night really hurt.
Woodson knew where to point the finger.
"I thought all the guys that played tonight played extremely well. Unfortunately, their teammates let them down by doing the things they've done,'' Woodson said of the suspended players. ''I'm disappointed because I'm strictly about team, and those guys in the locker room know I'm very upset about it, so we'll regroup. It's my job to get them ready. We'll regroup (for Saturday's game at Michigan State) and bounce back.''
What's really aggravating is that this shouldn't be an issue, not in mid-February with so much on the line. The five guys who were suspended let their teammates down on Tuesday night.
And that can never be right.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- WHAT TREY GALLOWAY SAID: Sophomore guard Trey Galloway scored 13 points for the Hoosiers before fouling out. Here's what he had to say following the loss in a postgame press conference. Read the full transcript, or watch the attached video. CLICK HERE.
- WHAT MIKE WOODSON SAID: Following five player suspensions, the Hoosiers fell to the Northwestern Wildcats 59-51 on the road. Indiana head coach Mike Woodson took to the podium to address the suspensions in a post game press conference. Read the full transcript, or just watch the attached video. CLICK HERE.
- TOM BREW COLUMN: Draw the lines. Five Indiana basketball players get suspended, and then Indiana loses at Northwestern in a very winnable game. So now, how much damage do these selfish suspensions do to this Indiana team that's trying to restore some pride and glory back into this program? We'll have to wait to see. CLICK HERE.
- GAME STORY: Indiana coach Mike Woodson suspended five players on Tuesday for breaking team rules, and the other half of his team fought gamely against Northwestern, but came up short after fading in the second half, losing 59-51. CLICK HERE
- LIVE BLOG: Follow Tuesday night's game between Indiana and Northwestern in real time. CLICK HERE
- HOOSIERS SUSPEND 5: Just minutes before Indiana's game with Northwestern, five players were suspended, including starting guards Xavier Johnson and Parker Stewart. CLICK HERE
