Live Blog: Follow Indiana's Game With Louisville in Real Time

NEW YORK — I know many of you are at work today without access to a TV, so welcome to our live blog straight from press row at Madison Square Garden. Border rivals Indiana and Louisville are set to do battle here in the third-place game of the Empire Classic.

The game starts at 4:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPNU. Here's all the information on how to watch, along with our normal great gameday preview. CLICK HERE

If you're new to our live blog, we'll give you all the news and views from the game, plus throw in some highlights and opinion. All the latest items are at the top, so just hit refresh now and then if you need to. Enjoy the game.

6:43 p.m. — Indiana's defense has been really good down the stretch. Louisville has only scored six points in the last eight minutes. Hoosiers up 71-64 now.

6:37 p.m. — Malik Reneau gets a steal with the Louisville shot clock running down. He gets an outlet pass to Xavier Johnson and he scores on a wide open breakaway layup. It's Indiana 65-64, with 2:50 to go. Reneau then scores through a double team, and gets through a triple team on the next possession to draw a foul. He makes them both, and Indiana leads 69-64 with 1:16 to go.

6:32 p.m. — Xavier Johnson lobs to Kel'el Ware, and he misses but gets his own rebound and scores. He's fouled but misses the free throw. Louisville still leads, 62-61. ... Media timeout now with 3:38 to go. Louisville leads 64-61. Indiana's Malik Reneau at the line when we return.

6:28 p.m. — Kel'el Ware makes two free throws and the lead is three (60-57) with 6:19 to go. IU forces a turnover, but then Trey Galloway travels on the other end.

6:20 p.m. — Trey Galloway finally gets his first basket on a drive, and the Louisville lead is now five at 58-53. Galloway had missed his first six shots.

6:09 p.m. — Louisville is getting to the basket way too easily, and they've taken the lead at 50-49 after going on a 13-3 run. Indiana's defense had been pretty good up until then. It's 52-49 now and Indiana calls timeout. Gotten very sloppy on both ends.

6:03 p.m. — At the first media timeout with 14:18 to go in the game and the Hoosiers lead by 7 at 46-39. Big night so far from the bigs off the bench. Anthony Walker, the Miami transfer, has 11 points and Payton Sparks, the Ball State transfer, has nine.

5:55 p.m. — Louisville cut the lead to one, but then Indiana did a good job of getting out in transition for several possessions in a row. It's an 8-0 run now on all layups and dunks, and Indiana leads 44-35.

5:31 p.m. — We've reached halftime and it's been a good half for the Hoosiers, except for the last few seconds. They go to the locker room with a 34-29 lead. Should have been more. Indiana had a breakaway in the closing seconds, but CJ Gunn threw the ball away. Louisville hit a three at the buzzer. Instead of Indiana leading by 10, they're up 5.

5:20 p.m. — Indiana point guard Xavier Johnson hits a 3-pointer to give Indiana a 31-22 lead. It's their first three of the game. Hoosiers 1-for-6 from deep so far. And the last media timeout with 2:04 to go.

5:09 p.m. — Indiana's bench is doing some good work. The Hoosiers lead 21-18 with 7:21 to go in the first half. Points for Anthony Walker, Payton Sparks, CJ Gunn and Kaleb Banks. A bit refreshing.

4:57 p.m. — Malik Reneau picks up his second foul just prior to the under-12 timeout. He earned that one, but the first call was a joke. Payton Sparks and Anthony Walker come in off the bench and give the Hoosiers five quick points. Indiana leads 19-15.

4:50 p.m. — We're at the first media timeout and Louisville leads 9-8. Kel'el Ware has scored twice for Indiana, and Malik Reneau once. Kaleb Banks has two free throws.

4:45 p.m. — Indiana freshman Mackenzie Mgbako, who has struggled defensively to start his college career, picks up two quick fouls in less than two minutes and has to go to the bench. Kaleb Banks comes in, and is beaten on drives twice on Louisville's next two possessions.

4:35 p.m. — Indiana is an 8.5-point favorite at tip.

4:30 p.m. — It's a ''bring your own energy'' Monday here at Madison Square Garden. Only a few thousand people here for the third-place game, a far cry from the raucous sellout crowd on Sunday for the IU-UConn game.

4:25 p.m. — Indiana wearing their red jerseys today for the first time all season.

4:20 p.m. — Same five starters for Indiana. Xavier Johnson and Trey Galloway at the guard spots, and Mackenzie Mgbako, Kel'el ware and Malik Reneau up front.

Five on the floor versus Louisville.

⚪️ @XavierJ0hnson
🔴 @KelelWare
⚪️ @MalikReneau
🔴 @MackenzieMgbako
⚪️ @TreyGalloway32 pic.twitter.com/hHNt17Ugym
— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) November 20, 2023

4:15 p.m. — This isn't the first time Mike Woodson and I have been in Madison Square Garden. Indiana has played here 27 times — they're 14-13 — and that includes a trip to the 1979 NIT, which the Hoosiers won thanks to Woodson, who was a junior at the time. It was a Big Ten tournament of sorts in the Big Apple, with the Hoosiers beating Ohio State 64-55 in the semifinals and Purdue 53-52 in the NIT title game.

4:10 p.m. — The Hoosiers hold a slight 11-9 lead in the 20-game series between the border rivals, who are separated by about 100 miles. The two programs have played four times in the past 20 years, including a 68-67 Hoosier win on Dec. 8, 2018 in Bloomington. Future NBA lottery pick Romeo Langford had a team-best 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. All-Big Ten performer Juwan Morgan added 15 points and a pair of blocked shots.

4:05 p.m. — Both teams lost on Sunday to get slotted in this third-place game. Indiana lost 77-57 to No. 5 Connecticut and Louisville lost to No. 19 Texas 81-80 on a last-second shot.

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