LIVE BLOG: Follow Along As Indiana Takes On No. 24 Michigan

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Welcome to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall! We're about an hour away from tipoff as Indiana tries to end its four-game winning streak against No. 24 Michigan.

Obviously, this will be an unusual day at Assembly Hall. On Friday afternoon, Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson announced that Mike Woodson would depart at the end of the season. According to Dolson, Woodson expressed his desire to leave the job on Wednesday after Indiana returned from a 76-64 defeat at Wisconsin.

What will the atmosphere be at Assembly Hall? We'll find out. It's quiet now. Crowd mostly isn't in the arena yet.

• Indiana's injury report is clean. Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton are out, but that's to be expected at this point. Michigan has no one listed on its injury report.

• Quick thoughts on Mike Woodson. Do I think this is the time? I do. I've been around enough situations in my career to know when the slide has become irreversible. This had got to the point where it was. I have written about Woodson's flaws before. I just don't think he had the wherewithall to correct them.

I think he'd lost enough of the fanbase that this was not going to get better as far as the vibe around the program. Once that happens? You're cooked in the court of public opinion. I've seen how this movie plays out before.

I covered Indiana State for a long time and the entirety of Greg Lansing's head coaching stint from 2010-21. Lansing had four winning seasons to start his career. During that time, he was given a five-year rollover contract. Then it turned sour. He had five straight losing seasons and a segment of the fan base turned on him. However, due in part to that contract, and in larger part because ISU had no money to buy out his contract, the Lansing coaching stint carried on.

At the end of that five-year losing season streak, he still had two years left after the rollover was canceled in the midst of the losing seasons. By all rights, it should have continued to circle the drain. Had ISU had the money to buy out the contract, it gladly would have. At nearly any other school, it would have been the end.

However, Lansing did something no one expected. He turned it around. In 2020 and 2021, ISU was above .600, which is good by any historical standard since ISU went Division I in the early 1970s. The problem was that he still had a sizable amount of the fanbase (to say nothing of the administration itself) who wanted him gone. So it became this ugly thing. The smallest sign of adversity? The wolves would howl. It was not pleasant for anyone.

I bring this up because that's exactly what would have happened here. Even if Indiana had made a run in February, you'd still have had a split in the fanbase. It would have come out win or lose. It's just best to start fresh at this point.

• On top of all of that, these are human beings we're dealing with. I was at the game on Tuesday in Madison. Woodson looked and spoke as if he had enough. I felt bad for him ... even as I thought to myself what a poor performance it was. Those things can be mutally exclusive.

I know what some people will say. He gets paid a lot of money for you to feel bad about him. Oh please stuff that. I think one of the reasons I recoil at the worst of the keyboard warriors in all fanbases is that it's very easy for them to fire off vindictives because they never have to face the people they're smearing. I say that with only having had a working relationship with Woodson. I ask questions, he answers them. That's the extent of it. But we're still talking about human beings here. I will always have empathy for that dynamic even if the worst of the fans do not. Some of the stuff that's floated out there on the message boards and fan groups has been disgraceful. You can want a coaching change without being hateful about it.

• With all of the coaching news going on, let's not lose sight of how this game fits into the season. At this point, Indiana is theoretically still capable of making a NCAA Tournament surge, but realistically? The Hoosiers need to get four more quality wins to really have a chance and since they don't have any quality wins to date, there's not a lot of reason to believe that's a run this team can make.

The more germane race at the moment is the one to make the Big Ten Tournament. Right now, Indiana has a game gap to the drop zone, 15th place or worse. Results elsewhere in the Big Ten have not been favorable. Nebraska's revival is not good for the Hoosiers as they lose a tiebreaker against the Cornhuskers. Ohio State has passed Indiana, a team that the Hoosiers have a favorable tiebreaker against (for now). Basically, Indiana has to win two more Big Ten games to feel relatively safe. That's doable, but we'll see.

• It's still early, but so far, the story of the crowd is ... where is it? Plenty of empty seats in all areas of Assembly Hall. It will fill out some by tipoff, but I think the thing about the disappointing performance of the team that hasn't been talked about enough is that for all of the keyboard warriors, etc., a sizable amount of fans have silently voted with their feet and just checked out. Apathy has set in. Never good. Football's success likely made this more pronounced. A lot of fans spent their emotional capital (and their money) on the football team.

• Starters - Indiana: Anthony Leal, Malik Reneau, Mackenzie Mgbako, Oumar Ballo, Myles Rice.
Michigan: Tre Donaldson, Vlad Goldin, Rubin Jones, Danny Wolf, Nimari Burnett.

• Mike Woodson and Dusty May had a nice pregame embrace. They've both spent enough time here to know what it's all about.

• Big cheer for Michigan coach Dusty May ... at least where I'm at inside Assembly Hall.

• Mostly muted cheers when Mike Woodson was introduced. Some boos mixed in. Why? It's over, folks. No need to pile on.

• Anyway, it's game time. Let's see if Indiana can handle stretch bigs better than the Hoosiers did at Wisconsin on Tuesday.

• Michigan 14-5, 1507 1H. Indiana started off with some good looks it didn't convert at the rim. After that, though, the shot selection has been poor and the 2 of 9 shooting is evidence of that. Meanwhile, Tre Donaldson has outscored Indiana by himself with eight points already. Hoosiers not doing any better against the opposing 3-point attack than they did at Wisconsin. Wolverines are 3 of 4 from long range already.

• Michigan 16-14, 11:44 1H. Indiana revives itself as the Hoosiers are on a 9-0 run. Michigan has gone 2:52 without a point. Much needed points from Malik Reneau, who has struggled since his return from a knee injury. He's 2 of 3 from the floor. Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf have been surprisingly quiet so far. That early scoring from Michigan's guards covered for that, but now that's melted away. Game on.

• Michigan 26-18, 8:54 1H. Indiana's offensive success didn't last and neither did Michigan's drought. Wolverines on a 7-0 run having made their last three buckets. Indiana reverts back to questionable shot selection.

• Michigan 29-19, 7:41 1H. Indiana can go from active to passive in no time flat. The offense is settling for jump shots and they're not falling. Now, granted, attacking two seven-footers is no easy task, but the ball movement and movement away from the ball has to be there to give yourself a chance and that hasn't been the case for the Hoosiers. Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf are heating up too. Not a good combination for the Hoosiers.

• Michigan 37-25, 4:54 1H. One team is forcing their will on the game. One team is hoping the game comes back to them. You can see by the score which teams I'm talking about. At one point, it was a 14-1 run for Michigan, even though the Wolverines hadn't had a field goal at that point in nearly three minutes. Hoosiers passivity is an annoyance to put it mildly.

• The Bucetto's topping race generated more enthusiasm among the students than the game itself has. Sign of the times.

• Michigan 43-27, :24.3 1H. Indiana just can't get anything going offensively. Hoosiers have missed nine of their last 13 shots. Wolverines haven't been much better, but they're getting to the line, 11 attempts to Indiana's two, and it's making a difference.

• Halftime - Michigan 43, Indiana 27. Some boos from the upper sections of Assembly Hall as the Hoosiers are sleepwalking their way to what appears to be a fifth straight defeat.

• Most enthusiasm of the day shown for Bloomington Dachshund Club vs. Korgis in the halftime dog race. Hey. I'm here for it too. This is going to be great.

• In an upset, dachshund wins the battle after korgis dominated the first heat. Best entertainment of the day.

• Michigan 49-35, 15:44 2H. Nothing much has changed. Hoosiers kind of just existing out there. Indiana is 3 of 4 from the floor, but they've also had a couple of turnovers that kept them from making any kind of meaningful run. Michigan hasn't played well either, but they're in a position where they can afford it. Hoosiers need an ignitor to get them going.

• Michigan 53-46, 11:30 2H. First real signs of life in the entire game from Indiana. Anthony Leal started the revival with a 3-pointer, followed by some nice hustle plays by Mackenzie Mgbako, who has eight points and eight rebounds. Crowd is into the game for the first time as Indiana is shooting 60% in the second half so far. Still some baffling plays out there, such as a no-chance feed from Trey Galloway to Malik Reneau in the lane, but at least the Hoosiers are demonstrating some fight.

• Michigan 53-50, 10:59 2H. Malik Reneau (14 points) made a free throw, Indiana forced a Michigan miss, and Bryson Tucker found Mackenzie Mgbako for a transition 3-pointer to make this a one-possession game. Timeout Michigan. Just when you think you have these Hoosiers pegged ...

• Michigan 55-52, 8:22 2H. Indiana used a 12-2 run, including eight in a row within that run, to cut down Michigan's lead. Since then, Indiana has been a bit shakier. Trey Galloway needs to settle down and not throw the ball away, which he nearly did on a post feed to Malik Reneau that fortunately bounced to Bryson Tucker. Interesting that Mike Woodson is giving Tucker a long run of meaningful game time. Luke Goode probably needs to come back in soon to stretch the floor a bit. Galloway and Leal getting long runs too, but that's because Myles Rice has been well off his game.

Michigan's Vlad Goldin is starting to be a problem on the offensive boards for Michigan. He's helped keep Michigan possessions alive with a couple in the second half.

• Michigan 59-52, 6:30 2H. Out of that media timeout, Indiana had a miss by Malik Reneau, a quick three by Trey Galloway, a forced shot in the lane by Reneau blocked by Michigan's Danny Wolf and then a turnover by Reneau. Not good.

• Michigan 59-57, 4:53 2H. Now we see the other face of the Hoosiers. Leal made one at the line and a tough reverse layup. Trey Galloway later followed with one of his floaters. Indiana did put Luke Goode and Oumar Ballo back in the game and it seemed to help on the defensive side.

• 59-59, 3:49 2H. Now we're seeing an entirely different Hoosiers - the one's who defend. Indiana forced a shot clock violation after Trey Galloway's make. Luke Goode was fouled and made a pair at the line to tie the game. Then Oumar Ballo had a very impressive block on a Danny Wolf drive to the rim. Ballo got that ball right at the top of his reach. He nearly saved it from going out of bounds too. Indiana on the good foot right now. Can they keep it that way?

• Michigan 61-59, 2:25 2H. Indiana forced a turnover out of the timeout, but then bogged down again. Luke Goode missed an off-balance corner 3-pointer and Vlad Goldin subsequently scored in transition. Indiana ran a set that got Mackenzie Mgbako wide open in the corner, but he air-balled the 3-point shot. Stoppage is due to Goldin going down after he set a screen. Trey Galloway ran into it and he went down in apparent pain. After review, no additional foul is called.

• Michigan 66-61, 1:25 2H. Tre Donaldson converts a layup for the Wolverines. After Trey Galloway nearly turned it over on Indiana's next trip, Mgbako did score, but then Danny Wolf made a nice play for Michigan. Coming off a screen set by Vlad Goldin, Wolf took his dribble tight off the screen. Leal defended it right, but not at the angle he expected Wolf to go. Wolf, a 7-footer, got his swoop shot up, which he conveted and was fouled on.

• Michigan 66-63, :26.4 2H. Indiana isn't dead yet. Hoosiers get within a possession again on a Malik Reneau conversion. Indiana gets the stop afterwards as Danny Wolf missed a jumper. As Mackenzie Mgbako was about to fire off an open 3-pointer (that he missed), Mike Woodson calls a timeout to set the offense for the Hoosiers. There's a two-second game-to-shot clock differential.

• Michigan 66-63, :20.5 2H. Indiana didn't waste time. Mackenize Mgbako took the inbounds pass at the top of the key, turned and fired. His shot swirled out. It appeared Luke Goode had the rebound, but he was on the ground and Indiana does not have a timeout. So a held ball was called once he was tied up. Michigan had the possession arrow and now has the ball.

• Michigan 68-64, :11.3 2H. Michigan missed the front end of a one-and-one to give Indiana a chance. The ball ended up in Trey Galloway's hands, probably not who you want to have it given his free throw difficulties. He fumbled the ball which gave Michigan the chance to foul him. He only made one of two at the line.

• FINAL: Michigan 70, Indiana 67. Anthony Leal made a three-quarter quart shot at the buzzer, but that's just a footnote in what is the fifth-straight defeat for the Hoosiers. Good fight by Indiana to get back in the game. Execution lacking when it came time to take the game over. Out of the frying pan and into the fire next as the Hoosiers go to Michigan State on Tuesday.

• Malik Reneau led Indiana with 16 points. Mackenzie Mgbako had 15 points. Indiana outscored Michigan 40-27 in the second half, but it's all window dressing as the bottom line is a fifth-straight loss and a 5-8 record in the Big Ten. Danny Wolf led Michigan with 20 points, 11 scored in the second half. Vlad Goldin had 10 of his 18 points in the second half.

Related stories on Indiana basketball