When the buzzer sounds, Indiana head coach Mike Woodson doesn’t usually show much emotion on the sidelines. However, his deep breath after Indiana’s second-half thumping of Purdue seemed more of a sigh of relief than anything else.
Woodson didn’t deliver a ‘win one for the gipper’ speech ahead of his eighth and final tilt with Purdue, but he and his players alike knew just how much Sunday afternoon’s game meant.
“It's always special when you beat Purdue,” Woodson said postgame. “I've had a history and a lot of experience dealing with Purdue over the years. The games are always tough, you know what I mean, regardless of how much talent each team has. Who has the most talent in those particular games is always pretty tough.”
At this juncture of the season, Indiana will be playing its remaining games with its back against the wall, and in their first test, the Hoosiers passed with flying colors.
Indiana found itself in a hole, trailing Purdue by a dozen at the start of the second half, but quickly erased it and some with a 28-3 run in the first eight minutes, mainly due to its stifling defensive pressure.
“We did everything from a defensive standpoint that we worked on these days that we had to practice. It was a nice carry over,” Woodson said. “I thought the second half, our defense really picked it up and we were able to get stops and we started to make shots.”
As the run continued, Woodson knew that his newly modified starting five, consisting of Myles Rice, Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal, Luke Goode, and Malik Reneau, couldn’t be kept off the floor.
Woodson only made two second-half substitutions. Oumar Ballo for Reneau, and vice-versa.
“It was seniors that carried us tonight and I refuse to change up anything much throughout the course of the second half,” Woodson said. “Put us in the best position possible to win.”
An emotional win had an even more emotional moment postgame. As Woodson finished his interview with CBS Sports’ Steve Lappas, the entire team stayed on the floor, engulfings their coach with taps on the head and hugs.
“It was special, I mean, any time your players rally around you,” Woodson said of the postgame moment. “because I do love them, and I'm sure they love me, as well.”
The celebratory post-game actions were a spur-of-the-moment decision, but it was a chance for the players to love each other and their head coach.
“I thought it was great. I mean, we're a family, and we've been a family since we all got together in June, and through highs and lows, you've got to find ways to continue to stick together,” Galloway said. “That's one thing we've really tried to preach this last week, even with what we've been going through and the tough losses, we still have a chance to compete and make the tournament.”
The program-wide wasn’t the only emotional moment of Woodson’s Sunday afternoon. A plastic red chair was placed in Woodson’s spot ahead of the game. The chair was actually the infamous red chair that Bob Knight threw across the floor 40 years ago Sunday, paying homage to the legendary moment in college basketball history.
“I've had it a while,” Woodson said. “I happened to get my hands on it -- that's why it was special to have it here tonight.”
After the game, Woodson stood next to the chair and made a motion to hurl the chair across the floor, but he smiled as he walked off the floor.
“I wasn't going to throw the chair,” Woodson said with a wry smile. “but I did want to sit in it.”
Everything Woodson has done in the last two seasons has been under the microscope. However, his .500 record against Purdue in its best stretch in program’s history should be remembered fondly, especially given his predecessor’s zero wins in seven tries.
Though there are many hoops they need to jump through, Galloway and the rest of the team know they’re still in the mix for an at-large bid, making it all the more important to win for their outgoing coach.
“Obviously this is Coach's last year, and we want to make it special for him. We want to make it special for everyone.”
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