What Leal, Galloway, Reneau Said After Indiana's 76-73 Win Over Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior guards Trey Galloway and Anthony Leal played a key role in Indiana's 76-73 win over Ohio State, with Galloway scoring 25 points and Leal hitting a clutch 3-pointer. Malik Reneau led the Hoosiers with 26 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
Here's everything they said after the win.
Anthony Leal
On his late 3-pointer...
Leal: "The design was just for Trey to get downhill with the lob option to Kel'el, and me and Mack in the corner, just to try to find us. Trey made the right play, and I was able to make a shot."
On what he thought seeing the ball go in...
Leal: "We've still got 30 seconds left, we've got to get a stop, and then come down and seal the game, which we were able to do, thankfully."
On that being the biggest shot he's hit since...
Leal: "Silver Creek in high school."
On what's said in huddles as they came back...
Leal: "We definitely acknowledged it today, just the fact that we were clawing back and getting closer and closer. We were pretty confident that they would fold. Just staying resilient, keep fighting through that, we were able to figure it out."
On what this win can do for them moving forward...
Leal: "It's just another opportunity for us to learn about winning. Today, in our chapel, our bible study that we have on every game day, we talked about resilience and going into the halftime down 13 and getting down almost 20 at one point, I think, but just being able to fight back in the second half, figure out how to win, is something that hopefully as we go through these next eight games of the regular season, we're able to just continue to build wins."
On the last time the team celebrated a win like this...
Leal: "The last time we won a game. Iowa."
On Galloway's second half effort...
Leal: "It's big time. Coach Ya says all the time that senior guards win games, and Trey stepped up big time for us. I'm happy for him. He puts in all the work. So he did what I know he's capable of."
On when he sensed if someone could turn the game around...
Leal: "I think we're always hopeful, we're always confident in our abilities, and we know that. Obviously, we don't come out with the expectation that we're going to dig ourselves in a hole. But when we do, we're capable. We know that we're more talented, and we're talented enough to figure it out, and thankfully we were today."
On Malik Reneau...
Leal: "He's ultra-talented. He's basically impossible to guard down there without fouling. That and then the combination of him last year going from two guys that were big-time veterans. in Race and Trayce. I think that just his confidence and his ability to get a bucket whenever he needs to."
On confidence that Ohio State would fold if they kept applying pressure...
Leal: "Yeah, it's just to keep chipping away, chipping away, chipping away. Eventually, if we keep doing that, the momentum's going to swing in our favor, and we're going to be able to figure out how to win."
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Trey Galloway
On what made the comeback possible...
Galloway: “Yeah I mean, I think just sticking together because we could have easily gone the other way. But I think our biggest thing is just really trying to focus on competing and staying in the moment because the first half was rough and there was a lot of ups and downs but it’s a full 40-minute game. So I thought we did a great job of really sticking together and fighting and having some resiliency.”
On what the team learns from a comeback like this...
Galloway: “I think you learn what we’re made of. I mean, like I said, it’s not easy to come down on the road down 18, but I think just us really sticking together and taking it one play at a time. You can’t win those 18 points back in one play, so just chipping away and finding ways to go out there and compete and keep battling and keep fighting and find a way. That was the biggest thing, and we did that.”
On Anthony Leal’s 3-pointer...
Galloway: “It’s a big-time shot. I feel so comfortable playing with him since we’ve been with each other since freshman year of high school. I trust him. He trusts me. So that combination and that trust we have for each other is special. I trust him with the shot. I got downhill, they helped from the corner, I kicked it to him and he made it. I want him to shoot that 10 times out of 10. I’m glad he made it. It was a big shot for us to help us win the game. I’m just glad he’s really kind of just stayed with it all this time because he could have easily really just gave up and quick when he wasn’t getting minutes. But I mean, just the way he’s fought and the way he’s just stuck his nose in there and kept competing and kept being a great teammate, it’s paid off.”
On handling outside negativity...
Galloway: “Yeah, I mean I don’t mind that at all. I try to keep my focus on my guys and my team. I’m not worried about what everybody else, what the outside noise is saying because when you start to worry about it, that’s when it starts to affect you. So you can’t worry about it because it’s all nonsense. But the biggest thing for me is just telling my teammates, ‘It’s only us.’ Because it is. At the end of the day, it’s not our families, it’s just us in that locker room coming together, finding ways to win. And we did a good job of that today. We’ve got eight more games to keep building.”
On calling for the ball and being aggressive...
Galloway: “For sure. I think coach really trusts me with the ball in my hands, and I trust myself. So I think just finding ways to get myself involved because I can make plays for other people as well. So just being able to get the ball and make the right play and make the right read, that’s the biggest thing for me. At the end of the day, I think we all did a great job together, coming together, finding ways to get stops and offensively kind of got into a flow. So it was good.”
On the satisfaction of a comeback paying off...
Galloway: “For sure. Like you said, we really fought and it was good to kind of see guys not give up. At the end of the day, we came together and we dug out a road win.”
On Malik Reneau...
Galloway: “Yeah, I mean, obviously he was frustrated there for a little bit. I’m really glad he didn’t foul out because he’s had some foul trouble, but we need him on the court. I keep telling him that we need him on the court always. But I mean, he’s such a dominant force and we kept telling him, like, ‘We’re going to be alright. We’re going to be okay.’ We just got to stick together and keep getting stops because our stops lead to offense. When we get stops, it shows. And we did, and it showed tonight.”
On perimeter defense in second half...
Galloway: “I think just like I said last game, just a sense of urgency and togetherness out there. Five guys as one. At the end of the day, I think that was the main thing we focused on was just coming together and getting stops because you can’t get all of it back in one possession. It’s multiple stops and multiple efforts the whole time.”
Indiana Hoosiers guard Trey Galloway (32) reacts after drawing a foul during the second half of the men's basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena.
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Malik Reneau
On biggest catalyst for the comeback...
Reneau: "The defensive side. I feel like we let up too many points in the first half, probably like 40, I don't even remember how much they had in the first half. It was just... We weren't laying defense in the first half, so, that was our main focus coming into the second half. Sitting down, stomping, and then just chipping at the lead slowly but surely. That's pretty much it."
On what they learn as a team by having to chip away at a lead...
Reneau: "It's good experience for us, just knowing that we can fight and fight and come back in and take away those huge deficits that we put ourself into. We've got to really focus and lock in so we won't be in those positions like we were tonight."
On staying connected as a team...
Reneau: "It's just trusting your teammates. We've been doing this since the summertime. We've been building this bond and this chemistry together throughout, even though we lost a couple rough ones, where it it felt like we weren't together, we won a couple ones where we weren't together. But we're finally trying to get that mix together where we're all connected and we're slowly but surely finding ways to win games."
On Anthony Leal's 3-pointer...
Reneau: "Huge. But I'm thinking on my point of view, I'm thinking trying to get good position just in case he missed. But huge shot. It don't get no better than that, than giving us giving us that one-point lead. Just giving us that cushion that we need to just get a stop at the end, which we did. Battle gave it up, and then we got fouled at the end, and knocking down the two clutch free throws also. Huge game by Ant, though. Giving him huge props for that."
On conversations in the huddles as they came back...
Reneau: "It's trusting in each other. That was a huge thing. And also, just taking it one possession at a time, getting those crucial stops that we needed down the stretch, and slowly cutting the lead, and then just setting goals throughout the media timeout, 'Alright, we want to cut it down to 10.' 'Alright, we're going to cut it down to six.' 'Alright, we're going to cut it down to, alright, let's tie the game now.' 'Alright, let's get ourself a chance to win the game.' It was those type of talks. But it was pretty good."
On the feeling after this win...
Reneau: “I mean, it’s huge. You have the crowd against us. They were up 18 going into halftime, so it’s just huge coming out with that win. I have no words for it, man, it was just a great moment at the time.”
On refocusing after frustration and getting a technical foul...
Reneau: “I just got too passionate with the game, said some words I wasn’t supposed to, told my team, ‘My fault,’ and then just got back on the court and kept going.”
On this win changing the team's momentum...
Reneau: “It’s a huge win, especially the deficit we came down from. I mean, it just builds our confidence up, gives us ways – and we know we can find ways to win, so I mean, that’s huge.”
On his technical impacting the team’s emotion...
Reneau: “I don’t think the team all together got emotional, but I felt like I was the reason – I was definitely the reason for that tech, coming down I said something I wasn’t supposed to say. Ref heard it, tech’d me up for it, told my team, ‘I’m sorry, my fault, won’t happen again.’ We got back. I calmed myself down, and it didn’t happen again.”
Indiana Hoosiers forward Malik Reneau (5) congratulates Indiana Hoosiers guard Trey Galloway (32) following the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena.
Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- IU-OSU GAME STORY: Indiana came back from an 18-point deficit to defeat Ohio State 76-73 Tuesday night at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Malik Reneau led the Hoosiers with 26 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, and Trey Galloway scored 25 points. Though he only attempted one shot, Anthony Leal hit the biggest one all night. CLICK HERE
- WHAT WOODSON SAID: Here's the full transcript of coach Mike Woodson's press conference following Indiana's 76-73 win over Ohio State on Tuesday night in Columbus, Ohio. CLICK HERE
- WATCH LEAL'S 3: Indiana senior guard Anthony Leal hit a huge 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds to play Tuesday night, giving the Hoosiers a late lead over Ohio State. That shot proved to be enough, as Indiana defeated the Buckeyes 76-73 in Columbus, overcoming an 18-point deficit. CLICK HERE
- PHOTO GALLERY: Indiana staged a dramatic comeback to upset Ohio State on Tuesday night in Columbus. Here are the best pictures from the game. CLICK HERE
