‘Tip your hat and give them a lot of credit’: Impressive second half from veteran lineup wasn’t enough, as Indiana basketball falls short to Michigan

Less than 24 hours after news was released that Mike Woodson would not be returning for the following season with Indiana basketball, the program was tasked with hosting a tough afternoon matchup in #24 Michigan.

A 16 point Michigan lead at halftime wasn’t daunting to Indiana, as the team entered the second half on a mission.

Indiana went on a 20-4 scoring run between the 17:18 mark and the 9:30 mark of the second half, guided by constant offensive success from Mackenzie Mgbako and Malik Reneau. The duo combined to score 15 points during the stretch, cutting down Michigan’s lead to just one point.

The two big men dominated the second half, as Mgbako finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-11 field goal shooting and 11 rebounds, while Reneau had himself 16 points on 7-of-14 field goal shooting, adding three rebounds and five assists.

Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson acknowledged his teams efforts in the second half, noting their determination for success.

“You got to tip your hat and give them a lot of credit,” Woodson said. “I do because they could have folded it up and called it a night but they fought the second half.”

After allowing Michigan to score 43 points in the first half, Indiana’s defense let up just 27 points in the second half. An impressive feat from Indiana on the back end of the game as Michigan has been a solid offensive team all season.

Woodson reflected on the strong defensive performance from his team to close out the game.

“They (Indiana) fought the second half. Michigan scores a lot of points. We held them to 70 points, and the second half they only scored 27 points. So I thought defensively we made a nice adjustment the second half. And guys fought, but Michigan was the better team tonight. So you’ve got to give them credit. They played their asses off.”

The impressive second half performance from Indiana was the result of a veteran lineup. Woodson opted to put the game in the hands of his players with more experience on the court and some even with the program, mainly utilizing a five of Trey Galloway, Luke Goode, Anthony Leal, Mackenzie Mgbako and Malik Reneau.

That specific group of five showed they were the most efficient group out of Indiana’s handful of rotations, while also having the most trust out of Woodson.

Woodson explained why he had faith in this core group of guys to command the game for the second half.

“I went with guys, basically senior guys, to try to win this game the second half. And I thought they played like seniors. We just fell a little short.”

Only two players outside of that core logged minutes in the second half – Oumar Ballo and Bryson Tucker. The duo combined to play just 11 minutes, each having the lowest +/- out of Indiana players in the second half. Ballo completed the second half with a +/- of +3, while Tucker finished with an even +/- of 0.

With the way Indiana’s “senior guys” played in the second half, Woodson needs to figure out a way for other players beyond that group to be efficient.

“We just gotta get other pieces in play to join in and help them,” Woodson claimed. “Tonight we were competitive coming down the stretch and getting back into the ball game. If we can bottle that up, along with how we played at Purdue and the Maryland game here at home, hopefully something will click for our team and we can get off this slide.”

The competitiveness in recent games from Indiana shows a clear sign of life. Three of Indiana’s last four losses have been by five or less points.

Woodson looked ahead at the final stretch of games for Indiana, citing the opportunity for late season success.

“Seven games is a lot of games, and we’re still trying to play to stay in the Big Ten Tournament and then see where that takes us. But we’ve got to start winning some games here soon to do that… we need to get a game under their belt so they can start feeling good about themselves.”

Next up, Indiana will travel up north to East Lansing, Michigan, facing the #9 Michigan State Spartans on Tuesday at 9 p.m. est. Michigan State is coming off of back-to-back conference losses to USC and UCLA, most likely pushing the program down in the AP Poll rankings on Monday.

SEE ALSO: Indiana basketball is poised for a rebirth

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