How Luke Goode’s leadership helped Indiana basketball respond after rough stretch
Battered for the second game in a row — losing by 25 or more points in consecutive matchups for the first time since 2008 — Indiana basketball was sinking.
A scuffle punctuated Indiana’s 94-69 loss to Illinois on Jan. 14, a night filled with palpable tension before the ball was tipped. The boos started during pregame introductions. But once the Hoosiers began to slip, boos escalated into full-blown contempt for the product on the floor at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Over midway through the first half, the chants started. The student section shouted “Fire Woodson” repeatedly, marking perhaps one of the louder statements against head coach Mike Woodson in his fourth season.
Had more fans been present in The Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis — when Indiana lost back-to-back games by 28 and 16 points, respectively — that could have sparked equal outrage.
“I’m not going to let us forget this game,” Woodson said after the loss to Louisville on Nov. 27. “This was embarrassing… we didn’t play Indiana basketball.”
But the Hoosiers were thoroughly embarrassed at home in a Big Ten matchup. It felt like a major inflection point for the season.
As time dwindled down on Indiana’s historic home defeat, frustrations boiling, there were signs of accountability. One came from Luke Goode, who transferred from Illinois last spring. After Oumar Ballo flew into the scuffle and was ejected, Goode grabbed him by the jersey to discuss the need for controlling emotions.
“Makes us look bad as a program, and that’s not the kids that we have in the locker room,” Goode said postgame. “That is just not how we need to represent the Indiana program.”
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Coming into the season, Goode had a defined responsibility within Indiana’s offense: shoot the ball.
The Fort Wayne native led the Illini in 3-point percentage last year (38.9 percent) and notched career-bests in points and rebounds. Goode’s skillset made for an easy fit for a Hoosier team that shot 32.4 percent from beyond the arc last season and only converted five triples per game.
Perhaps just as crucial as Goode’s ability on the court is what he provided off it. With a collection of portal acquisitions like Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle and Ballo, the main question through the offseason was how well the new pieces would gel.
Goode — the two-time Big Ten champion with the Illini — became a leading voice immediately.
“Lead by example is the biggest thing for me,” Goode said at IU basketball media day on Sept. 18.
Goode often took charge of group activities. During workouts, even on off days, he was key in raising the standard and cultivating the kind of culture he knew produced winning.
“The most underrated part of what I bring to the program is my past,” Goode said at the time. “I get it. I know what it takes.”
Goode and the Illini reached the NCAA tournament Elite Eight last season, the furthest any player on the current Indiana roster has reached. The former Homestead standout grew up rooting for the Hoosiers inside Assembly Hall and fondly remembers being gifted candy-stripe warmup pants for Christmas.
Before the start of the season, Goode said he was excited about the prospect of fans cheering for him instead of against him. As someone who understands the program’s historical prominence and what comes with sporting the uniform, Goode was intent on aligning himself positively with the fanbase.
For him, that meant doing the little things right. Effort. Energy. Toughness.
“I play as hard as I possibly can every time I’m on the court to try and represent this program the way it should be represented,” Goode said.
Though Goode started the season slow from a scoring perspective — he failed to eclipse nine points in his first seven games — he torched Sam Houston State University for 18 points on Dec. 3. He’s played at least 20 minutes in all but one game since.
Goode was key in wins over USC and Penn State, scoring 16 and 12 points, respectively. Coming off five straight wins, Indiana’s trip to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes figured to answer some pressing questions. The Hoosiers had been performing well, but road games in the Big Ten can always be dicey.
Indiana was walloped earlier in the season against Nebraska on the road, falling 85-68 on Dec. 13. In the first of 11 consecutive Quad 1 contests, a win over Iowa could have provided a considerable step forward in validating Indiana’s success.
Instead, the Hoosiers were dominated in an 85-60 defeat. Indiana was careless with the basketball early and couldn’t offer much resistance to the Big Ten’s best offense. Again, Woodson’s team was embarrassed.
Only it didn’t rival what the Illini had in store for the Hoosiers three days later.
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The atmosphere was unlike anything over the last few years. There was hostility and sheer disgust. After Indiana’s loss to Illinois, Goode and Anthony Leal were sent to the podium in front of reporters to try and somehow explain what had just happened.
“I understand it. We got embarrassed,” Goode said. “We have to wear this jersey with more pride as Indiana players. This program is too historical and too great to be represented like that.”
If that loss weren’t the season’s rock bottom, it would be hard to imagine how much deeper Indiana could sink. Like Goode, Leal acknowledged how dire the situation was. When asked how the team carries on like normal after two demoralizing defeats, he said they couldn’t.
“I don’t think we carry on like normal,” Leal said. “Obviously things need to be addressed between players and themselves and players and each other. I think that’s really the root of it. We just got to lock in, look in the mirror and understand how embarrassing and unacceptable this is and understand that nobody gets where they want to go if the team doesn’t win.”
In a likely mix of frustration and confidence, Goode insisted the Hoosiers would “get this thing turned around,” calling out fans who booed and posted negatively on social media. As the season spiraled toward disaster, much rested on how Indiana would respond three days later against Ohio State in Columbus.
The Hoosiers could ill afford another blowout, both for the sanity of the fanbase and the mentality of the team. Indiana needed to play with pride and show that its previous losses were just punches along the way, not defining moments.
Led by Goode, it did just that. In the past, Indiana has let small runs from its opponents unravel into huge deficits. Ohio State landed its share of punches, but the Hoosiers withstood them. Goode notched a career-high 23 points on 4-of-7 shooting from deep, including the go-ahead triple with 1:07 left in overtime.
In stark contrast to three days prior, Indiana’s bench was filled with joy and intensity. Goode’s impact was evident throughout the game, even when he wasn’t scoring. The Hoosiers’ overtime win by no means salvaged a season still uncertain, but it was a show of life. Of pride.
“We got a group of guys in that locker room with a lot of pride,” Woodson said. “They wear that jersey with pride, and sometimes things don’t go according to plan. I thought tonight, considering where we’ve been the last two games, they fought their asses off to help us win this basketball game.”
Goode said after the game Indiana had two strong practices following the Illinois loss and stepped back for a “reality check.” Within it, the Hoosiers gained critical perspectives about each other and themselves.
When Woodson was asked about the external noise surrounding his team, he cut off the question and, with a dismissive hand gesture, called it “ridiculous.” With 12 games remaining on the schedule, including Wednesday’s bout with Northwestern, there’s ample time for the season’s trajectory to change, either for the better or for the worse.
By now, one of the most consistent parts about this Indiana team is its inconsistency. But if its win over Ohio State proved anything at all, it’s that the Hoosiers were able to respond from one of the most tumultuous weeks in recent years.
If only for a night, Goode and the Hoosiers can take solace in that.
“100 percent, yeah,” Goode said, “we represented Indiana basketball.”
Filed to: Luke Goode