Indiana hopes to be clicking again after absorbing consecutive 25-point losses.
The Hoosiers enter Wednesday’s game against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., coming off a 77-76 overtime victory at Ohio State and remain firmly in the hunt for a top-four seed and bye into the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals in March.
“We’ve played some pretty good basketball and had some good stretches,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said.
As for the not-so-stellar ones?
“You just have to stay away from games like that,” Woodson said.
While Indiana (14-5, 5-3 Big Ten) benefited from usual suspects such as Luke Goode and his career-high 23 points against the Buckeyes on Friday, Woodson also lauded efforts from various reserves who kept the team afloat.
After playing a combined 37 minutes in back-to-back blowout losses to Iowa and then-No. 19 Illinois, sophomore transfer Kanaan Carlyle contributed 13 points in a career-high 36 minutes.
“I just hope he bottles it up and carries it forward,” Woodson said.
Northwestern (11-7, 2-5) has lost four of five. The Wildcats went to overtime in their past two games, including Sunday’s 80-76 loss at then-No. 20 Michigan.
Jalen Leach had 19 points in support of team leaders Brooks Barnhizer (21) and Nick Martinelli (20) before he was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul.
“There’s a lot of pressure on Brooks and Nick, and I know that’s because of what they’ve done and the attention that’s placed on those guys every game to try to take them out of the game,” Wildcats coach Chris Collins said.
Collins praised Leach and Ty Berry, who has scored in double figures in back-to-back games after combining for just five points in three straight league losses to open January.
“We’ve got to get more,” Collins said. “We’ve got to find some production from our bigs. We’ve got to find some production from our freshmen because we’ve got to do our best to try to take the pressure off Brooks and Nick.”
Northwestern has won four straight against Indiana but trails the all-time series 119-57. The Hoosiers are seeking their first win against the Wildcats since Feb. 10, 2021 in Evanston.
