This one probably hurts more than the other's losses in recent weeks as the Indiana Hoosiers fall 81-76 to their instate rival, No. 10 Purdue, late after giving up a seven-point lead. Granted, seven points may not seem like a lot, but with the way this game was going and as back and forth it was, seven points was a lot to be up by.
In a hard-fought game, the refs and fouls seemed to be the center of attention as many players on both teams found themselves in foul trouble early on in the game. Indiana stars Oumar Ballo, Malik Reneau, and Anthony Leal were all in trouble early in the second half, and Mackenzie Mgbako had two fouls early in the first half. Leal and Ballo both were unable to finish the game as they fouled out in the final minutes of the game.
Mgbako was the leading scorer for the Hoosiers with 25 points, so it is safe to say that he is out of his mid-season slump. Indiana actually had four Hoosiers score in double digits, with Mgbako and Ballo scoring 14, Luke Goode with 13, and Trey Galloway with 15. Galloway was a huge pickup for Indiana with Reneau still trying to come back from his knee injury and limited in minutes and quite rusty on the court.
Indiana went into halftime with a 41-37 lead, but coming out of the break, Purdue came into the half with a plan and went on a 7-0 run to take a 44-41 lead early in the half. At one point, Purdue was up 58-53 on Indiana, and the Hoosiers needed a boost and went on a 10-0 run to go up 61-58. At that point it seemed like it was going to come down to who had the ball last.
In the final 30 seconds of the game, Galloway hit a big shot to put the Hoosiers up by one, 76-75. All the Hoosiers had to do was hold Purdue from making a shot. The shot clock and the game clock had a 0.5-second difference, and the Hosiers needed some solid defense. Purdue's second-leading scorer Trey Kaufman-Renn hit a hook shot that was defended well by Ballo but was perfectly executed with 11 seconds left.
The Hoosiers inbounded the ball, and instead of calling a timeout after they crossed half-court, head coach Mike Woodson let Myles Rice run to the baseline and try to throw up a shot and get fouled, but the refs let them play on, and Purdue ended up with the rebound. Ballo quickly fouled Kaufman-Renn, which ended up being his fifth and final foul available. Kaufman-Renn hit both shots to put the Boilermakers up by three, forcing Indiana to only be able to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Finally, Woodson called a timeout to draw up an inbounds play. No one can even be sure what was drawn up in the timeout because the inbound pass was airmailed and landed right in the hands of Purdue players, practically icing the game for the Boilermakers, and loud "I-U Sucks" chants broke out in the arena.
This was the worst outcome for Indiana as they are fighting tooth and nail to stay alive for the NCAA Tournament, but it seems to be getting out of hand with each loss. Indiana may need a miracle at this point to make it to March Madness, and it seems like they may be in the market for a new head coach next season.