‘It’s winning time, it’s time to win this game’: Indiana basketball’s Big Ten opening win was déjà vu from last month — just find a way.

Survive and advance. That’s the mantra of March. Whether they are must-win games to close out the regular season, or once you get into the conference and NCAA Tournaments. The Indiana basketball program has been in that ‘must-win’ mindset for much of the last month and it once again translated into another gritty win over Penn State on Thursday night, 61-59.

It wasn’t a pretty game by any means for either team. And, by all accounts, it was much like Indiana’s season up to this point — a roller-coaster. After leading for all but 17 seconds of the first half, Indiana saw its once nine-point lead turn into a six-point deficit at the 16:30 mark of the second half.

Much like Indiana had done over its previous four games, it dug deep and found ways to chip away. Indiana quickly went on a 7-0 run to re-take the lead at 43-42 at the 12:31 mark. Then, there were eight lead changes to finish, with neither team leading by more than five points.

“I think it’s kind of a culmination of just the whole season, becoming more familiar with each other as players and learning how to win together,” Indiana basketball senior guard Anthony Leal said postgame. “Sometimes it doesn’t work out. For example, coming down the stretch at Illinois earlier in the season, we really felt like we could win that one, but we didn’t make the right plays.

“From that point forward, I feel like we’ve had the right mindset going into the final six, eight minutes of the game that it’s winning time. And we’re confident in each other to make plays and trust in each other to continue to execute the game plan.”

‘Winning time’ has translated into five straight wins and four coming by less than five points.

Much like the last month, Thursday’s win came down to the final play. As Indiana called a timeout with 24.3 seconds left and 21 on the shot clock, it was tied at 59-all.

Mike Woodson called up a play for Xavier Johnson to come off of a triple staggered screen. Once that was taken away, Malik Reneau attacked the basket and flipped up a jumper from just inside the free throw line. It was a miss, but Anthony Leal was right there for a putback with five seconds left. Puff Johnson’s last second three was on line but fell just short as time expired.

“I know with the shot clock running down and everything that we’re going to get a chance to get a shot, but the odds of that shot going in aren’t always high,” Leal said. “The odds of losing on a tip-in or a rebound is something we talk about a lot on defense. If there’s a buzzer beater, we’ve got to be boxing out.

“So I knew that, if he did happen to miss a shot, to go in there and try to make something happen is a possibility. I’m blessed I was able to do that.”

“He’s come in and given us a helluva lift, and tonight he hits the biggest shot of his college career, the putback,” Woodson said of Leal. “So that’s beautiful for him, I think, in terms of the hard work that he’s put in. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

In a game that had 40 fouls, 42 combined free throws and neither team shooting above 40 percent from the field, the grittiness and effort was going to win out in the end. Leal’s final two points were part of 32 for Indiana in the paint, led by 18 points from Kel’el Ware.

“It was just one of those type of games, an ugly game,” Woodson said. “But we made the plays we needed to make coming down the homestretch.”

For Indiana basketball, its record moves to 10-2 in games decided by six points or less this season. That is the best among Big Ten teams. While it doesn’t tell the entire story, it’s evident that — especially lately — Indiana is learning how to win.

“There’s been a number of games,” Woodson said. ” … We just — it’s taken us a while, man, to really put it together. We had a lot of early games where teams really pushed us to the limit, and we didn’t buckle in those games. But, again, missing X during the stretch that we missed him, it just, we went into another tailspin. When we went on that four-game losing streak, man, we were all reaching and searching.

“The last few games we’ve been able to flip it and turn it around, and that’s pretty good for our ball club.”

“Even with one guy out, we’ve always got to come together as a team, just play together,” Ware said. “Lock in on defense, and just be able to execute the offense well to be able to come out with a W.”

The theme for Indiana basketball coming into Thursday’s Big Ten opener was all about ‘one game at a time’. It was also about the recent winning streak and learning how to win together.

With a new roster from a season ago and injuries that have kept key players out for long stretches, Indiana is just now finding out how to win with what Mike Woodson calls a ‘full deck’.

While Indiana was without senior guard Trey Galloway on Thursday, and likely will be moving forward, this group is ‘winning together’. And at this time of the year, is something that allows any team to overcome any deficiencies.

“We’re all kind of collectively words of encouragement, it’s winning time, it’s time to win this game. We’re going to get this done,” Leal said. “Talking about different coverages and what we’re executing.

“I think that we’re — as a team, we’re leading together, and there’s not just one person who’s taking everything, but everyone kind of pushes off each other, and I think that’s a great quality that we’ve started to develop.”

Indiana basketball continues its season and will now face Nebraska on Friday night.

“Unfortunately, losing Gallo hurts, man, but we can’t stop here and complain, man,” Woodson said. “We’ve got to just next man up. Whoever plays has got to give us something while he’s out there to help us win.”

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