Hoosiers Can't Shoot Straight in Loss to Oregon, Now Must Sweat Out Selection Sunday

Indiana struggled to shoot the ball and finished both halves poorly in a 72-59 loss to Oregon in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday in Indianapolis. Now they have to sweat out Selection Sunday to see if they get an NCAA Tournament bid.

Tom Brew | Mar 14, 2025

Indiana forward Malik Reneau (5) and Oregon's Nate Bittle (left) during Thursday's game in the Big Ten Tournament. / Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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INDIANAPOLIS — There have been many Indiana games like this throughout the season, but it's been a while. The Hoosiers lost to Oregon 72-59 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament Thursday, mostly because they had another brutal shooting day.

With the one-and-done loss in the conference tournament, Indiana is now 19-13 on the season and sitting directly on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament berth. They don't have much of a resume and now will have to sweat out Selection Sunday.

They might be in. They also might not. They are that square on the bubble.

The Hoosiers remain confident, despite the Thursday loss.

"We know that we should be a tournament team. There's a lot of opportunity for that,'' said Indiana guard Trey Galloway, who had 15 points. "I think just those crucial losses that we had that were just so
tight, one-possession games. The way we've been playing the last month and a half, we've been playing like a tournament team.

"I just think us coming together and finding ways to get better (the past month). We haven't played our best basketball until now. So I think it's been good.''

The Hoosiers struggled to shoot the ball all day, going just 36. 2 percent from the field, and 4-for-16 from three despite making their first two long balls.

They also were just 5-for-10 from the free throw line, and senior Anthony Leal missed the front end of two one-and-ones in the final five minutes when the Ducks still had just a two-possession lead.

Oregon, on an eight-game winning streak now, advances to the quarterfinals to take on No. 1 Michigan State on Friday. Indiana will have to wait until 6 p.m. Sunday night to see if their name gets called when the 68-team field is selected.

Oregon was sensational defensively, especially at the end of each half. They went on a 10-0 run over the final 2:45 of the first half to take a 37-29 halftime lead, and Indiana missed its final five shots and had a turnover.

It was more of the same in the second half. Malik Reneau — who led the Hoosiers with 19 points off the bench — scored with 7:33 to go to cut the lead to 56-54. From there, though, the Hoosiers were outscored 16-5.

It was a tough finish, much like nine days ago when the Hoosiers lost 73-64 in Eugene by giving up the final 10 points of the game.

That's a 10-0 run last week, a 10-0 run to end the first half, and a 16-5 run to end the game. We haven't seen that since Feb. 11, when the Hoosiers went 5-2 with wins over two ranked teams (Michigan State, Purdue). Thursday was a back-pedal game, something we saw a lot of in December and January.

"You've got to give Oregon credit,'' Woodson said. "I thought right before the half, that was a big momentum builder for them. Then we regroup, we came out after the half, and we were back in the ballgame.

"It's just the little things. We missed two front ends of a one-and-one, and in a two-possession game,
those are huge. They come down, and they make us pay for it on both possessions.''

Oregon also did a good job of capitalizing on every Indiana mistakes. The two missed one-and-ones by Leal were following by Oregon baskets, and Indiana never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

Reneau had 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting, and lamented all of his misses, saying he got good looks all day. Galloway had 15, and Mackenzie Mgbako added 12. Center Oumar Ballo had eight points on 4-of-11 shooting and also missed several shots at the rim.

The foursome scored 54 of Indiana's 59 points. Everyone else struggled. Sharpshooter Luke Goode played 33 minutes and was 0-for-5 from the field, making just one free throw in the final minutes when the outcome was no longer in doubt. Myles Rice was also 0-for-5 in 28 minutes, and was a stunning minus-23 plus/minus for the game.

Kanaan Carlyle was 0-for-2 in six minutes and Leal had four points in 31 minutes, but had those huge missed free throws.

It was a rough offensive night. Galloway said they got the looks, but just didn't finish.

"They're a good defensive team, but I think just being able to finish around the rim, that was the problem,'' Galloway said. "We had a lot of open, easy looks that we normally make, and we didn't.
Then 50 percent from the free-throw line, we didn't shoot the free throw well, and same thing from three. It's just being able to make shots and shoot them with confidence. We didn't do that today.''

The dry spells at the end of halves has been a recurring theme all year. It's happened far too often. Most notable was a loss at Nebraska in December, when they got outscored 17-1 in the final six minutes despite having a lead. It's one of many opportunities they've let slip away. Many, many opportunities.

"We had some dry spots this season, but I'm going to always campaign for my team. That's how much I love my team,'' Woodson said. "Like I said earlier, we're playing some of our best basketball. I don't think that there's a team in the country that we can't beat if we come ready to play and compete for 40 minutes.

"Here of late, we've been playing some pretty good basketball. I don't think today's game is an indication of how we've been playing the last two and a half or three weeks.''

The NCAA selection committee might think otherwise. It's going to be a long three days for Woodson and the Hoosiers.

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