Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson makes change to starting lineup for OSU game

Posted by Admin January 18, 2025 Basketball

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson followed through with the changes to his starting lineup on Friday against Ohio State that he hinted at after an embarrassing 94-69 loss to No. 20 Illinois earlier in the week.

While Woodson didn’t have a ton of options with Malik Reneau (knee) and Bryson Tucker (finger) sitting out, the Hoosiers (13-5; 4-3 Big Ten) starting five against OSU was Myles Rice, Anthony Leal, Luke Goode, Mackenzie Mgbako and Oumar Ballo.

It was the first time that combination of players has started together this season and third career start (first this season) for Leal, who was inserted into the starting lineup in place of Trey Galloway.

“I got to make some changes,” Woodson said, after the Illinois loss. “We haven’t been getting off to a good start in terms of who we been starting. Sure, we do miss Malik. He’s a big piece to the puzzle. But I got to put guys in there that I think is going to get us off to a good start and see if we can maintain it over a 40-minute ballgame.”

Leal has played increased minutes of late thanks to the intensity he brings off the bench. The fifth-year senior had averaged 15.6 minutes over the last five games.

After the loss to Illinois, he challenged his teammates to “look in the mirror.”

“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.”

Leal, a former Mr. Basketball out of Bloomington South, came to Woodson’s defense last year during Senior Day after announcing he was returning for a fifth season.

“I do got to make something very clear, adversity is part of sports, for those of you who are so quick to give up and call for quits and everything, there’s a reason you aren’t coaches,” Leal said, last year. “Relax, there’s no other coach in the country that I would trust with anything in my life more than coach Woodson and there’s no other university that I want to represent. We are going to run it back, but you guys got to chill.”

The fan base again vented their frustration with chants of “Fire Woodson” as IU fell behind by 30 points in the first half against Illinois. The Hoosiers gave up 60 points in the first half against the Illini while shooting 38.2% from the floor.

Galloway’s move to the bench continues an up-and-down year for the guard. He missed much of the team’s offseason program while rehabbing a knee injury. He played his way into the starting lineup in late November, but had struggled of late.

He was booed by the crowd at Assembly Hall earlier in the week while getting off to a 0 for 5 start from the field. He finished the game against Illinois with 10 points and four turnovers.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.