After back-to-back 25 point losses to Iowa and Illinois, there were serious doubts about Indiana's fight, effort and motor, but those questions were answered inside the Schottenstein Center against Ohio State.
The Hoosiers pulled out a gutsy, hard-fought win over the Buckeyes, needing overtime to get the 77-76 victory, but showing fight the entire way.
"They fought their asses off to win this basketball game" Mike Woodson said, and that was certainly true, as IU needed to battle for 45 minutes to finish as the victor.
This fight was seen throughout the game, as hustle plays and defensive stops were aplenty in route to defeating Ohio State, a complete 180 compared to what was seen against Iowa and Illinois.
On the defensive end, Indiana registered four steals and six blocks, while on offense it scored 17 second chance points, many of which were scored after tough rebounds.
The Hoosiers also scored 15 points off turnovers, making sure that their hard-fought possessions on defense were turning into valuable points, as a single point ended up being the difference between a win and a loss.
This was, of course, because this one needed five extra minutes to decide the outcome, though Indiana played tough basketball in the second half just to get it into OT.
Ohio State was up by as many as seven in the ballgame and was ahead by six at halftime, though Indiana battled back with tremendous defense in the second half and in overtime.
"We got down early in the overtime and we just kept fighting and making defensive stops" Woodson said. He also mentioned that "It was a total team effort and we needed it after the two games we just had."
Woodson and his team knew that it was going to take a ton of effort to win this one, and it did, though the Hoosiers brought the toughness, resulting in a quadrant one win.
The entire Indiana team had tremendous effort, but Anthony Leal in particular played tough basketball despite not entering the scoring column.
Leal started his first game of the season against the Buckeyes and made sure that his presence was felt, especially on the defensive end late in the ballgame.
With less than three seconds left in overtime, and Indiana leading by one, Leal had an incredible defensive possession, blocking John Mobley Jr.'s shot in the paint, forcing a sped-up three at the buzzer from Bruce Thornton which rimmed out, giving IU the 77-76 win.
"Coming down the stretch tonight, he made a great defensive stand to help us get another victory." Woodson said, while Luke Goode said "Shoutout to Anthony Leal on the last stop."
It wasn't just this play though, as Leal was making heads up plays all game, while also being the leader the Hoosiers needed.
Goode mentioned that he believed that Leal's best quality as a teammate is "toughness," also mentioning "he’s undefeated in his career when he plays 22 or more minutes. When you got a guy that goes in and can contribute that highly to a game without essentially scoring, you know he’s a tough, tough-minded guy ready to go."
Leal's toughness, coupled with the rest of the Hoosiers' effort all game allowed Indiana to turn things around against Ohio State. IU may have lost the past two games by 25 points each, but the fight showed against the Buckeyes was something that just wasn't seen against Iowa and Illinois.
The Hoosiers are now 5-3 in Big Ten play after the 77-76 OT win, with their focus now shifted to Northwestern, though it it wants to continue the success it saw in Columbus, the effort needs to say as high as it was tonight.
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