Indiana basketball escapes a trap game in Minnesota with a 61-57 win on Wednesday night without Coach Mike Woodson leading the charge.
Finding out the morning of Wednesday’s game that their head coach and leader would be missing a Big Ten road game is a less-than-ideal situation for the Hoosiers.
In a game where Indiana basketball trailed by as much as six points on the road, it seemed as though the Hoosiers were just sitting back and waiting to take the lead until the very last minute of the game.
The lineup situation and attacking against the zone seemed to be on both the players and coaches, but in the end, a Big Ten road win is still a win, no matter which team you’re playing, and the Hoosiers have now won four straight games and two straight Big Ten road games.
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Here are my six takeaways from the Hoosiers escaping with a 61-57 win at The Barn:
Six takeaways from Indiana basketball 61-57 win @ Minnesota:
#6. Indiana basketball clearly needs Coach Mike Woodson, but it’s not all on Yasir Rosemond
Five hours before tip-off, the media was notified that Coach Mike Woodson would not be coaching in the game against Minnesota on Wednesday night due to his recovery from COVID. Of course, well wishes to Coach Woodson and hopefully he’s healthy enough to coach for Saturday’s contest against Ohio State because we need him.
From questionable lineups to actual in-game adjustments, it seemed as though the Indiana coaching staff was a bit lost, just like the team itself without their fearless leader leading the charge.
For most of Hoosier Nation blaming Associate Head Coach Yasir Rosemond for his decisions last night, it shouldn’t be all on his shoulders. Technically, Rosemond was not named “acting head coach” for the game, and it was meant to be a team coaching night with Kenya Hunter and Brian Walsh heavily involved.
For a guy that’s never been a head coach in a Division I basketball game, Rosemond handled it about as well as anybody would in that situation, and guess what, a win is a win, especially in a Big Ten road game.