Indiana's Valiant Effort Against No. 2 Kansas Comes Up Short in 75-71 Home Loss
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana was very good on Saturday. Like really, really good against No. 2 Kansas at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
But some days, even very good isn't good enough. Saturday was one of those days. Despite leading for more than 35 minutes, the Jayhawks made one big play after another down the stretch and came away with a 75-71 victory.
"For the most part I thought we played a solid game, but they made the plays coming down the stretch,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "I don't think our defensive intensity was there the second half like we started the game and finished the first half. They picked their defense up. It was obvious. They held us to 31 points.''
The loss dropped the Hoosiers to 7-3 overall, and left them without a signature win in the nonconference portion of their schedule. But this was nothing like the blowout losses to No. 5 Connecticut or highly regarded Auburn. This win was there for the taking, and the Hoosiers led by as many as 12 points in the first half, and 11 in the second.
But none if it was good enough.
"Well, it's really the first game that we've had — we've been in a lot of close games, even the early games we've had — and we didn't cave,'' Woodson said. "I thought tonight we didn't make the plays defensively that we needed to make in a game like this. But it's a game that we can definitely build on, especially after you come out of a game like the Auburn game. I didn't know which way we would go.
"I thought we played pretty well. You got to tip your hat to (Kansas coach) Bill (Self) and his team because they did everything they needed to do to secure the win down the stretch. We just didn't get it done.''
Kansas didn't get its first lead until only 4:53 remained in the game when center Hunter Dickinson — a longtime nemesis from his Michigan days — scored on a layup to make it 62-61. It was the capper to a 16-5 run for the Jayhawks (10-1), who's only loss all year was to No. 4 Marquette in Hawaii.
The Jayhawks gave up that lead once, and the Hoosiers tied it another time, but they went ahead for good at 67-64. From there, the Hoosiers just couldn't get over the hump.
The loss spoiled a career night for Indiana senior guard Trey Galloway, who had 28 points, blowing away his former career high of 20 last year against Nebraska. He played aggressively — and played 38 minutes — attacking the basket often in single coverage. He was 12-of-17 shooting, and was 2-for-4 from deep.
"I thought he played great,'' Self said. "It's easy to say, 'take away his right hand,' but he still got to his right hand every time. (His) 28 (points) isn't a respectable number for us that we did a good job at all. He got the best of us. But I think he's good."
His second made three came with 54 seconds left and cut the Kansas lead to two at 71-69. Indiana got a stop and Galloway got another good look from deep on the right side, but that one rimmed off and the Jayhawks closed it out.
Galloway, who's been struggling from three this season after shooting 46.2 percent from deep a year ago — said he felt good about the final shot. He knows they had chances to close it out, and let it slip away. He also had five turnovers on the day.
"I mean, I thought it was good,'' he said of the last shot. "I mean, not all shots fall. Next opportunity I get, I'm going to shoot it again and make sure I make it. I've got to keep trusting my work because I work hard for this. I know I'm going to be able to make shots. Next one I get, I'm going to make sure I knock it down.
"Down the stretch, we've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We've got to put it away when we get the chance. (Last week) we got out-toughed against Auburn, and it showed. We took the right stuff forward. Obviously we didn't get the job done today.''
There are no moral victories at a school like Indiana, but the Hoosiers sure did a lot of good things on Saturday. Their first half was probably the best they've played all year. Their defensive intensity was great, holding Kansas to just 35.3 percent shooting and 2-for-10 from deep, andf they led wire-to-wire.
They went to the locker room leading 40-32 and led by as many as 12 points at 34-22 with 4:35 to go in the first half after a 10-1 run. Galloway (13), Mgbako (11) and Reneau (8) had 32 of their 40 points.
Offense was tougher to come by in the second half, though. Kansas ramped up their pressure a touch, and Indiana settled for a lot of long mid-range jumpers. Their last double-digit lead was at 56-46 with 11:03 to go before the Jayhawks started to chip away.
Woodson rode his starters as hard as he could. Ware played 39 minutes, Galloway 38 and Cupps 37. Foul trouble was an issue for Mgbako and Reneau, which was the only reason why they were on the bench.
After being criticized for his substitution patterns on the 28-point blowout loss to Auburn, Woodson was pleased with how they bounced back after a good week of practice. He still has a lot of faith in this team.
"As a coach, I'm going to always have confidence in my team. We just had to go back to work. We put a good week of work in,'' Woodson said. "We kind of put the Auburn game behind us because nobody wants to sit through that. As a coach and as a player, you don't want to go through that. But we did.
"I thought we rebounded (from the loss) tonight. But again, we didn't win, so we got to go back to work tomorrow and get ready for our next two games.
After Galloway's 28, three other Hoosiers were in double figures. Mgbako had 14 points and made 4-of-5 free throws. His one miss was his first all year. He's now 25-of-26 from the line. Reneau had 13 points and Ware had 11 and 15 rebounds.
Indiana has three nonconference games remaining, all at home but against mid-major opponents. They play Morehead State on Tuesday, and North Alabama on Thursday next week, and wrap up the nonconference schedule on Dec. 29 against Kennesaw State.
The Big Ten schedule resumes on Jan. 3 at Nebraska, and the next Big Ten home game is Jan. 6 against Ohio State.
Related stories on Indiana-Kansas
- LIVE BLOG: Relive all the action from Saturday's Indiana-Kansas in real time with the blow-by-blow straight from press row. CLICK HERE
- GALLOWAY HIGHLIGHT: Indiana senior guard Trey Galloway was aggressive from the opening tipoff, giving Indiana an early lead with a fast break layup. Watch the full highlight here. CLICK HERE
- MGBAKO HIGHLIGHT: Indiana freshman wing Mackenzie Mgbako got the Assembly Hall crowd on its feet with a pull-up 3-pointer in transition. Watch the full highlight here. CLICK HERE
