With 14 seconds left in Sunday’s game, Michigan State trailed by one and had a chance to spoil Indiana’s Senior Day festivities. MSU’s Tyson Walker, who finished with 30 points, drove toward the basket and watched his shot roll off the left side of the rim. After two tips, Xavier Johnson grabbed the rebound and raced down the length of the court dribbling out the clock, with the Assembly Hall crowd drowning out the sound of the buzzer.
Indiana defeated Michigan State 65-64 Sunday afternoon, giving birth to its second four-game winning streak of the season.
“I didn’t really have to go back to the bench much,” head coach Mike Woodson said. “I was determined tonight to play the seniors because it was their night. [Johnson] and [Anthony] Leal were going to stay in no matter what.”
Indiana started the game hot, leading 24-7 with 8:50 to play in the first half. Trey Galloway exited early with a lower leg injury, allowing Michigan State to crawl back and enter the half only down five.
Coming out of the break, the Spartans continued their surge, and took a seven-point lead with under 10 minutes remaining. That’s when Kel’el Ware, Mackenzie Mgbako and Malik Reneau took matters into their own hands, combining for 57 of Indiana’s 65 total points.
“Just wanting to win,” Ware said. “You know, of course I’ve been wanting to win this whole season, but I feel like just looking past it I need to be more aggressive. That’s what I’ve been trying to do on the offensive end, and just trying to help my team as much as I can on the defensive end just to come up with the win.”
Ware leads the team in scoring and rebounding this season, and that trend continued as he posted 28 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks against Michigan State. Over his past seven games, Ware has averaged a dominant 20.7 points and 12 rebounds on 69% shooting.
“[There’s] always still more to prove, so I don’t feel like I’ve proven myself just yet,” Ware said.
One place for improvement are Ware’s free throws — the 7-foot center shot just 1-for-6 from the charity stripe, contributing to the team shooting 5-for-12 overall (42%). On the other hand, Indiana started out hot from beyond the arc, making the first four out of five, but then missed eight straight following that. Mgbako finished with three of the team’s six 3-pointers.
Johnson played his final regular-season game in Assembly Hall, capping off an emotional regular season filled with adversity by grabbing the game-sealing rebound.
“It’s tears of joy,” Johnson said. “I battled throughout the whole year mentally and physically… It’s just crazy because from where I started to where I finished, I know it’s been a difficult year, I still pushed through everything I’ve been through and I got to the finish line.”
Johnson noted that although he has come a long way, there is still more work to be done in the Big Ten Tournament, but he is very proud of himself and his teammates.
After the game, Galloway, Johnson, Leal and Anthony Walker, Indiana’s seniors, were all honored for their contributions throughout their years at IU. Leal and Galloway, much to the delight of the crowd, announced they will both exercise their COVID-year and return for a fifth season.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Woodson said. “It means a lot. You know, we been through the battles together, and yet Leal hadn’t played a whole lot but played some this year and played well for us. For him to tell Hoosier Nation that he’s coming back, along with Galloway, that means a lot to me as a coach.”
Indiana is now 18-13 and enters the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 6 seed with lots of momentum. This Thursday, March 14, IU will face the winner of No. 14 Michigan vs. No. 11 Penn State.
