Indiana needed a win today to feel comfortable about its at-large NCAA Tournament chances.

Down 46-36 with 12:12 remaining, the Hoosiers were entering dangerous territory as their chances of securing a tournament bid dwindled. But they responded in a tremendous way.

The Hoosiers hung in there, fought, made plays, and in the end, Indiana secured a 66-60 victory that showcased its resiliency above all else. IU has won four of its last five, five of its last seven, and has played its best basketball of late when it has needed it the most.

Anthony Leal said postgame that Indiana's hope was always "to start playing our best basketball right now because this is when it really counts going into the Big Ten Tournament and March Madness," and it's been clear that IU has indeed turned it around at the right time.

Effort, fight, and toughness have fueled Indiana’s recent surge, and as Luke Goode put it: "When we have a collective effort from everybody involved—coaches, guys that are in the rotation, out of the rotation, walk-ons—it all comes together to be something good. Since that moment, we have all come together really well."

While the fight was always there, the first half wasn’t pretty, and neither was the beginning of the second, as Indiana struggled mightily on offense. But its defense never wavered. The Hoosiers held the Buckeyes to 44% shooting in the first 20 minutes and, after digging in for the final 20 minutes, limited Ohio State to just 32.1% shooting in the second half.

After the Buckeyes took a double-digit lead with just over 12 minutes to go, Indiana held OSU to 2-of-15 shooting down the stretch, including a 1-of-11 mark in the final minutes and six straight misses to finish the contest.

"For us to be in a must-win game for our postseason hopes—first, Senior Night at home, too—and to come out and play the defense we did, it's a testament to how much we've grown as a team together," Goode said.

Goode, like most of the Hoosiers, wasn’t at his best offensively, but his effort never wavered. He grabbed a season-high eight rebounds and was a menace on the defensive end.

Indiana was solid defensively all game long, but it got better as time went on—once again showing that when the going gets tough, the Indiana team of late gets going.

While Indiana’s defensive improvements were impressive, they were nothing compared to how the Hoosiers flipped the switch on offense. IU scored just 25 points in a rough start, but things clicked when the team desperately needed points on the board.

"Good teams are able to balance that and able to stay even keel. We've done a great job of that recently to be able to bounce back from big wins or bounce back from big losses. And so we weren't doing that early on in the season, and now we're starting to figure that out. And it's helping us, and we're winning games," Trey Galloway said postgame, noting that the Hoosiers have "bounced back" tremendously well. They certainly did that today on the offensive side of the ball.

The Hoosiers scored 41 in the second half and were miles better offensively down the stretch compared to earlier in the game. While IU shot just 41.7% from the floor—not an extraordinarily impressive number—the Hoosiers’ ability to get to the free-throw line was the difference, and that comes down to toughness.

Talking about the second-half surge, Leal said, "That was able to turn the tides and get us momentum. And then Trey hits a huge shot down the stretch where we get some stops. It's a great way to go out."

With it being Senior Day, this turnaround meant that much more. These seniors, especially Galloway and Leal, have been through so much. This was a way to go out strong and cement their legacies as legends of Assembly Hall.

And for Mike Woodson, in his final home game as Indiana’s head coach, it was fulfilling to see his seniors experience a win because of their fight. While Woodson's tenure has been rocky at times, this victory allows him to leave a winner—something that brought him back to his playing days.

"It's a very emotional game. You know, I think back to 1980 playing this same team for the Big Ten title. That's the only thing that was going through my head throughout the day, and I wanted it so much for these seniors to win because I knew how special that night was for me my senior year, walking off that floor as a Big Ten champion," Woodson said.

Beating Ohio State in a battle to sneak into the NCAA Tournament isn't the same as beating the Buckeyes for a Big Ten title, but the sentiment in both games was the same. Woodson's team—whether as a player or now as a coach—did enough to win with big-time plays, both defensive and offensive, down the stretch.

While this doesn’t officially secure a tournament spot—that will be decided in the next eight days—this win made a statement: IU is tournament material. The Hoosiers have been through a lot this season, and it hasn’t always been pretty, but what was seen inside Assembly Hall in Woodson’s final home game as head coach showed just how resilient this group can be.

With their backs against the wall, the Hoosiers responded—and that might have secured them a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

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