Key takeaways from the Indiana basketball 82-69 win over USC

Indiana basketball extended its winning streak to five with its 82-69 win over Southern Cal on Wednesday with an 82-69 victory.

After trailing for the majority of the first half, Indiana used a strong second half — much like it did against Penn State — to take the game.

Here are the key takeaways from IU’s win over USC.

Luke Goode’s importance: IU’s perimeter attack continues to ride with Luke Goode. After a rough start to the season, the Illinois transfer has been extremely consistent in all areas of his game, but recently it’s been the scoring ability that continues to be a major asset for Indiana. Since January hit, Goode has combined for 10 3s and is shooting 66.7 percent from three in those three games. He added to that on Wednesday when he had 16 points and was 4-of-5 from three. His ability to hit timely shots continues to be a saving grace for IU’s offense at times. Goode has been everything and more that Indiana needed and wanted him to be — high energy, high IQ, knocks down shots, leads. Couldn’t ask for anything more, and he continues to get better with each game. When you talk about glue guys, there may not be a more important one around the country than what Goode is for Indiana.

Dominant second half run: Just like at Penn State, Indiana basketball used a strong early second half run to create separation. Tied at the half, Indiana went on an 11-3 run out of the half and made six of its first seven shots to find a rhythm and create some pace to a game that at times was out of sync. Indiana continues to be best when it attacks and that’s exactly what it was doing to start the second. Trey Galloway had seven of the first 11 points for Indiana and eventually helped IU push the lead to 12 after the run went to 21-9 through the first nine minutes of the half. At that time, Indiana was scoring 1.727 points per possession. For the entire second half, IU scored 1.294 points per possession, had a scoring rate of 61.8 percent and a turnover rate of just 2.9 percent.

Oumar Ballo dominant again in 1-big lineup: After averaging 21.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in the past two games as the lone big man, Ballo followed that up with another terrific outing. He put up 23 points on 9-of-11 from the field, adding eight rebounds and two blocks. He once again was able to control the game with his ability to get anything he wanted inside the paint. With IU’s smaller lineup and ability to stretch the floor and add much-needed floor spacing, double-teams were often limited or delayed. His emergence as a real ‘featured’ big is starting to take the Indiana basketball offense to another level, and help the rest of the team in turn.

Myles Rice’s floor game: We’ve seen Myles Rice as a scorer and as a playmaker, but rarely has he turned in both at the same time. After three turnovers in the first seven minutes of the game, Rice went the next 24 minutes of game time without a single turnover. He finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists and controlled the tempo and the game on both ends of the floor. Rice did exactly what Mike Woodson has wanted from his talented guard — be the true floor general. Rice knew when to make plays for his teammates and he also knew when it was time to turn it on and look for his. While he wasn’t overly efficient from the floor — just 5-of-13 — he attacked and got downhill every opportunity that presented itself, or quite frankly — any opportunity he wanted — either finishing at the rim or drawing a foul, getting to the line 11 times.

Indiana did what it has struggled to do in the past — maintain momentum: It was clear, Indiana basketball found something over the last two games with how it found ways to grind out wins and play with the energy it needed for the majority of the game against Rutgers and Penn State. The question was; would Indiana be able to maintain that momentum? After a very lethargic first half against USC, it looked like the old Indiana. However, it did what it had in the two games prior, find a new energy and find a way to win. Indiana used a terrific second half and did everything, and more, to come away with a win. These were the types of games Indiana would lose in previous years.

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