At the Buzzer: Indiana 77, Winthrop 68 – Inside the Hall

Quick thoughts on a 77-68 win against Winthrop:

How it happened

It was another up-and-down first half for Indiana on Sunday afternoon in Assembly Hall. With Oumar Ballo out of the lineup, the Hoosiers went small with Luke Goode in the starting lineup in place of Ballo. Playing one big seemed to open up things for Myles Rice, who had a team-high 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field and a 4-for-4 mark from the line in 16 first-half minutes. Indiana, however, couldn’t push its lead past eight points and as Kasean Harrison’s 3-pointer splashed in at the end of the first half, the Hoosier lead was just 41-37 at the break. Indiana was a dismal 1-for-10 on 3s in the first half but was better at taking care of the ball with just four turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

The Eagles got within two on a pair of free throws at 49-47, but Luke Goode scored five straight for the Hoosiers to push the lead to seven with 15:15 to play. But Winthrop had an answer. A bucket by Kelton Talford pulled the Eagles to within four at 55-51 with 11:34 left as the Hoosiers continued to miss open 3-pointers. Indiana’s field goal drought nearly reached four minutes entering the under-12 media timeout. After the Eagles cut the Hoosier lead to three, IU ripped off an 8-2 run to grab a 63-55 advantage at the under-eight media timeout. Winthrop’s Nick Johnson split a pair of free throws with 6:12 to play to make it 63-58 but Indiana responded with back-to-back buckets from Rice and Trey Galloway to stretch the lead to nine, its largest of the afternoon. That prompted a Winthrop timeout with 5:16 left.

The Hoosiers led 69-60 at the final media timeout, but Winthrop scored five straight out of the timeout to make it 69-65 with 3:24 left. A 3-pointer by Johnson cut the IU lead to one with 3:16 to play. Reneau then split a pair of free throws to make it 70-68 IU with three minutes to play. After the Hoosiers got a stop on the next possession, Langdon Hatton secured a rebound, was fouled and made two free throws to make it 72-68. After another defensive stop by the Hoosiers, Rice found Reneau for a bucket and a foul to make it 75-68 with two minutes remaining. An Anthony Leal tip-in with 28 seconds left made it 77-68 and sealed the victory for the Hoosiers.

Standout performer

Rice led the Hoosiers with 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 32 minutes. Reneau added 14 points and seven rebounds in just 14 minutes due to foul trouble. Hatton was huge off the bench, finishing with seven points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in 26 minutes.

Statistics that stand out

After Winthrop got within one with 3:16 left, the Hoosiers finished the game on an 8-0 run to escape with a nine-point victory. Indiana never led by more than nine points.

Final IU individual statistics

Final tempo-free statistics

Assembly Call postgame show

Filed to: Winthrop Eagles