Amidst struggles of consistency plaguing Indiana in the first two months of the season, using its length has been a strength.
With a powerful front-court tandem of Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo, the Hoosiers will enter almost every game with a massive size advantage.
However, 29 seconds into Indiana’s first game of the 2025 calendar on Thursday night, Reneau went down holding his right knee. The junior didn't return the rest of the game, meaning Indiana's front-court depth would be once again tested.
Though it was missing one of its grittiest players, Indiana didn’t miss a beat, tallying 18 offensive rebounds and 34 second-chance points on the way to an 84-74 victory over Rutgers.
“I think the fact that they played a lot of zones. It's kind of hard to block out in zone situations,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “We were able to sneak guys in and get put-backs or kick it back out for threes. That's just how it goes when you play zone.”
Listed as questionable after missing Sunday’s non-conference finale with Winthrop, Woodson expected to ease Ballo back into action with limited minutes; however, when Reneau’s injury forced his hand, Woodson had to rely on the Arizona transfer, and Ballo responded, accounting for seven of Indiana's offensive rebounds.
“[Ballo] was a big part of our team winning tonight,” Woodson said postgame. “He had 17 and three rebounds, a few blocked shots, and plugged the hole up for us like he's supposed to, so I thought he played well.”
It wasn't just Ballo that led the attack on the offensive glass. Bloomington native Anthony Leal added three offensive rebounds, providing a major spark off the bench for the Hoosiers.
After having his way with whatever Indiana threw at him in the early going, Bailey went 1-for-6 from the field while Leal was guarding the future NBA lottery pick. Leal had plenty of help from his teammates, but it was the Bloomington native who did the best job against Bailey when the Hoosiers needed it most.
“Anytime I was on him I just tried to take away space, get physical on him and force him to his left hand knowing he's going to make some tough shots,” Leal said. “He's projected to go where he's going to go, so just tried to make it tough on him and tried to make him hit contested shots, which today he did, but it's a team game so we were able to get the win.”
Inserted into the game to guard the Freshman phenom, Leal wouldn’t be limited to just his defense prowess.
Leal’s hustle on the offensive end proved to be pivotal, especially in the waning moments of the first half when he chased down a loose ball with seconds left and banked in a 35-foot heave as the buzzer sounded, giving a jolt of life to the Assembly Hall crowd.
“I chased it down, peeked at the clock and saw there wasn't much time so I just kind of turned around and shot it,” Leal said, recollecting the circus shot. “Weird things like that seem to happen for me, so I'll take it. I would rather be lucky.”
Indiana’s season-highs in offensive rebounds and second-chance points were a byproduct of its effort to keep possessions alive. It wasn’t just Leal or Ballo doing the brunt of the work; every player who saw the floor on Thursday night contributed to the team’s best all-around effort of the season.
Indiana made a concerted effort to win every 50-50 ball against Rutgers, and it paid off. This gives Leal hope that the team can continue a stretch of unselfish basketball as they head on the road to Penn State on Sunday.
“It's becoming contagious and it's selfless team basketball and that's what we're about.”
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