Mike Woodson wanted to ‘get ‘em ticking again’ during west coast trip as confidence, momentum at a season-high for IU basketball

IU basketball has gone from a team that was clearly out of the NCAA Tournament to on the right side of the tournament bubble in just two weeks. And, as the final week of the regular season arrives, two critical games remain on the schedule that could solidify IU’s chances for an at-large bid before playing a second in the Big Ten Tournament.

After a dominant road win against Washington to begin its two-game west coast swing, IU looks to round out a successful six-day trip with what will likely be its final Quad 1 opportunity; Oregon. While a loss won’t put Indiana into a negative light, a win would certainly be as close to a tournament-lock type of win that you can get at this point in the season.

Indiana had lost seven of eight games before flipping its script and winning four of the last five, including three in a row.

“It’s March now so it means more for everyone playing around the country,”IU wing Luke Goode said after Indiana’s 78-62 win on Saturday. “Especially teams battling to get into the tournament and need to win games. Our urgency has definitely picked up big time and our team has come together at the right time and it shows out there. Everyone is playing for each other and rallying around coach and coming together for a greater purpose.”

After four of the last five losses came by less than five points, Indiana’s ‘togetherness’ has led to wins — the best medicine in February and March, the time when teams around the country aim to be playing their best. While numerous bubble teams head into the last few weeks of the season with a tense sense of energy, IU basketball has done the complete opposite.

Playing with a sense of calmness and enjoyment as there are no second-chances for this group. There is no running it back. With each passing day, the moments this group remains together becomes shorter and shorter.

With Mike Woodson leaving after the season, and players like Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal, Oumar Ballo and potentially Luke Goode out of eligibility — a large core of the group that has played significant roles this year are also looking at their final moments on a college floor. Instead of sulking or listening to the outside noise and negativity, they led a reset and a refueling that has helped guide this group through a challenging year, and last few weeks. But now there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

“I think urgency is the word I come back to,” Goode said after the win. “I think we sat back and said, ‘This is it for most of these guys. They are seniors, coach is leaving, everybody’s future is in question. This is the last time that we can come together as a team’ … we just have that urgency that we came out and it’s time to win.”

“I think we just have to keep reminding each other to cherish every moment because wins and losses, it’s all special because you’re learning through it all,” Galloway said last week. “So I think just really cherishing these moments because when it’s over we’re all going to miss it and it’s going to be tough to really understand what it meant to put this uniform on and to go to war with our brothers every day.”

Indiana enters its matchup with Oregon looking to sweep its west coast trip. With extended time together between games and out west, it’s also another moment for this group to continue its bonding.

After a confidence that seemed to break throughout January and early February, Mike Woodson is using this roadtrip as a moment to get IU basketball ‘ticking again’ to make sure the recent momentum continues to build, with no end-of-season letdown.

“We had a day to really work when we got out here … we had a good practice and we worked,” Woodson said. “We gotta get ‘em ticking again, and I thought today (Saturday) was a nice carry over because these guys played well I thought.

“Can’t win two games until you get the first one, so we were able to win tonight (Saturday) and the Oregon team is a tough team, man, they play extremely hard and we gotta go in with our A game and see where it leads us.”

With the momentum at a season-high, IU basketball looks to keep riding the wave that has them playing like one of the most confident teams in the Big Ten, and around the country.

“Every season has its ups and downs,” Goode said. “Our down was a little longer than we would’ve liked throughout those five or six games we lost in a row. But we’re building momentum at the right time. We’re on the up-slope at the right time. And we just got to keep it going.”