Five takeaways from Indiana’s win at Washington

Indiana improved to 18-11 overall and 9-9 in Big Ten play with a 78-62 win against Washington on Saturday at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Here are five takeaways from the win against the Huskies:

Malik Reneau was dominant in the paint

Malik Reneau missed Indiana’s win against Penn State at Assembly Hall on Wednesday, but the junior was available on Saturday in Seattle.

And Reneau delivered one of his best performances of the season.

The 6-foot-9 lefty was unstoppable in the paint as he shot 10-for-13 from the field on his way to 22 points. When Washington attempted to guard Reneau straight up, he used his agility and his body to finish with either hand at the rim. And when the Huskies sent pressure, he typically handled it well and found the open teammate.

Reneau added six rebounds and two assists in the win and the Hoosiers were +14 when he was on the floor. The junior from Miami, Florida, has now scored in double figures in six straight games.

Postgame, Mike Woodson said there was some uncertainty on whether Reneau could travel with the team after going to the emergency room on Wednesday.

“The main thing was, ‘could he fly with the team and not spread whatever he had amongst the players?’ That was my big concern. So we had talked about maybe flying him out separately. But our good doctor, doctor (Larry) Rink suggested that it would be OK, so it all worked out.”

Luke Goode’s 3-point shooting provided a significant offensive boost

Indiana is a different team offensively when it makes perimeter shots.

After splashing in ten 3-pointers in Wednesday’s win against Penn State, the Hoosiers stayed hot from distance in their first game on the West Coast.

Senior Luke Goode was the driving force behind the solid night from the perimeter. Goode went 5-for-9 on 3s on his way to 18 points in 34 minutes.

The Hoosiers shot 9-for-23 on 3s in the win, good for 39.1 percent.

With just two Big Ten games remaining, Goode is 45-for-98 on triples in Big Ten play (45.9 percent). That was the sixth-best percentage in the conference through Saturday’s games.

Indiana shut down Washington’s Great Osobor

Washington senior big man Great Osobor has been one of the most consistent frontcourt players in the Big Ten all season.

Osobor’s ability to score and also pass – he leads the Huskies in assists – makes him one of the toughest covers in the conference.

But Indiana never let Osobor get going on Saturday and he looked frustrated as the game progressed.

Osobor finished with a pedestrian line in one of his worst games of the season – four points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal and three turnovers.

Most impressively, Indiana held Osobor without a field goal, just the second time that’s happened this season.

“He’s a load, man, in terms of what he does offensively and we knew that coming in,” Woodson said. “We just tried to take some things away from him. I thought Goode did a good job, but we double-teamed him some and tried to keep it out of his hands as much as we could.”

Trey Galloway delivers another big assist game

Trey Galloway put away Wednesday’s win against Penn State with clutch 3-point shooting down the stretch.

Galloway made four triples against the Nittany Lions and finished with 16 points and nine assists.

The perimeter shot wasn’t falling for Galloway in Seattle – he was 0-for-5 – but his playmaking for his teammates was pivotal again.

The Culver Academies product dished out seven assists and committed one turnover in 24 minutes.

Over Indiana’s last four games, Galloway has 31 assists. He has the sixth-highest assist rate in the Big Ten at 29 percent.

Indiana is trending toward the NCAA tournament with two regular season games left

Indiana’s win against Washington – its fourth in five games – wasn’t a Quad 1 win for the Hoosiers.

But on a Saturday afternoon when plenty of bubble teams lost, Indiana holding serve and keeping its perfect record in Quads 2, 3 and 4 intact was meaningful.

While the Huskies have struggled this season under first-year coach Danny Sprinkle, Indiana dominated a conference road game and won for the fourth time away from home in Big Ten play.

The Hoosiers are playing their best basketball of the season and have a chance to end Mike Woodson’s tenure on a high note by reaching the NCAA tournament for the third time in four seasons.

“We’ve been playing much, much better basketball, and these last three games, these guys have come and showed up,” Woodson said.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

Category: Five Takeaways

Filed to: Luke Goode, Trey Galloway, Washington Huskies