Indiana got its fifth straight win, defeating USC 82-69 behind another impressive second half from Oumar Ballo and the rest of the Hoosiers.
This one was tied 38-38 at the half, but the Trojans just couldn't keep up the rest of the way, with Indiana looking like the team many believe they can be down the stretch,
For the game, IU shot 29-for-66 from the field and 6-of-21 from three, not necessarily lighting it up by any means but, coupled with free throws and defense, it was enough to look like the better team by a solid margin.
USC went just 25-for-61 from the field and an even worse 6-for-26 from three, allowing the IU defense to make its mark on this one.
As mentioned, Ballo led the way for Indiana, as he scored 23 and grabbed eight rebounds for the game.
He was followed by Myles Rice with 19, Luke Goode with 16 and Trey Galloway with 11 to round out the double figures scorers.
With all these good performances, Indiana looked as solid as its been all season, giving it another Big Ten win, so here's how it happened:
HOOSIERS START OUT SLOW, BUT RESPOND WELL IN 1ST HALF
It was dead even at halftime, as both teams were at 38 points after 20 minutes of play, with both Indiana and USC playing very impressive basketball in different stretches throughout the first half.
USC went first, as it capitalized on a 0-for-6 shooting start for the Hoosiers, getting out to a 9-2 lead out of the gate, though Indiana would respond right back, getting things back within a two point game by the first media timeout of the half.
The Trojans weren't done just yet though, as they widened their lead once more, it topping out at 10 when it was 19-9 and then 22-12 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first.
After this, though, Indiana responded, and responded well. IU went on a 12-2 run to tie things up at 24, making it a game once again after allowing the Trojans to take control in Assembly Hall.
For the rest of the half, things were very tightly contested, as it was back-and-forth action for the final five minutes of the first half, with some very high quality basketball down the stretch before halftime.
Oumar Ballo made his presence known later on in the half, scoring 10 in the first 20 minutes on 3-of-3 shooting, while also making all four of his free throw attempts.
He was right behind Luke Goode in first half scoring, as Goode scored 11 in the first period, knocking down all three of his 3-pointers for a 4-of-5 mark shooting from the field.
Chibuzo Agbo and Saint Thomas also had solid first half numbers, though for USC, as they scored 11 and 9 respectively. This allowed the Trojans to shoot 15-for-32 as a team in the half.
Indiana shot a combined 13-of-31 from the field, not a great number by any means but, considering how it started, not a bad finish for a back-and-forth start to the action.,
With it being all tied up when the halftime buzzer sounded, this first half allowed the second half to decide who would walk away from this one with a Big Ten win.
ANOTHER SECOND HALF SURGE BEHIND BALLO GIVES IU THE WIN
Just like it did against Penn State, Indiana took a tie game at halftime and turned it upside down with a hot start to the second half.
The Hoosiers went on a 11-3 run to open up the action after halftime, grabbing its largest lead of the game just like that, doing so in less than four minutes of gametime.
It wouldn't just stop there though, as Indiana kept it going and increased its lead to double digits just five minutes later, even getting it as high as 12 for a spell.
This was done behind the stellar play of Galloway and Ballo, both of which scored at will in the opening minutes of the second half, leading the charge as IU was taking control of this game, much to the pleasure of the Assembly Hall crowd.
The crowd was only energized more when Luke Goode hit an and-one 3-pointer that was set up beautifully by an outlet pass from Bryson Tucker to Galloway, and then the dish from Galloway to Goode in the corner, where he nailed the three,
IU's lead was up to 13 after the huge bucket from Goode, giving the Hoosiers their largest advantage of the night right before the under-8 timeout, one that it wouldn't give up as it held on rest of the way.
USC wouldn't get it within six, as both the Indiana offense and defense shined the rest of the way, with the defense in particular allowing the Hoosiers this very successful second half.
It forced the Trojans to shoot under 40% with a 10-of-28, also forcing six turnovers out of USC, a number that was really critical in allowing Indiana to get transition buckets
IU shot 16-of-35 from the field, an improvement compared to the first half, but this second half couldn't be mentioned without talking about Oumar Ballo and Myles RIce
Ballo absolutely dominated the action after halftime, scoring 13 points, but also playing tremendous defense, while Rice added 12 second half points and four second half assists.
This allowed the Hoosiers to finish off this one-sided first half and cruise to a 82-69 victory over USC moving it to 4-1 in Big Ten play and 14-4 overall.
The Hoosiers are back in action Saturday at Iowa.
FINAL STATS
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