Sophomore forward Thomas Bryant’s free throw hung in the air.
Bryant was at the line with two seconds left tied the game after being fouled on a monster slam that tied things up.
His shot clanked off the back of the rim and hovered for a few seconds before it found its way through the net.
With the Hoosiers mired in a five-game losing streak, Bryant’s free throw helped IU pull off the upset against Northwestern by a final of 63-62 on Saturday.
Those seconds that the ball was in the air decided the game, but it was the play that preceded the free-throw that helped the Hoosiers win.
After a missed floater by Northwestern’s junior guard and Indiana native Bryant McIntosh with nine seconds left in the game, IU junior guard James Blackmon Jr. secured the rebound and ran up the court with IU down two.
The ensuing seven seconds, in which Blackmon sprinted up the court and ultimately found Bryant for the slam, saved IU from a six-game losing streak.
Blackmon said the entire time he was headed up the court, he was thinking about shooting.
“Yeah that was in my mind, just be aggressive and make a good play,” Blackmon said. “I heard the bench calling timeout, but I was already in my move so I just went with it and tried to be confident.”
The junior guard had rescued IU just thirty seconds earlier when his three-pointer with 38.6 seconds left pulled IU within two.
This time, his court vision was what helped the Hoosiers. When the defense collapsed on Blackmon down low, he said he knew there would be an open man.
“I saw two or three guys come at me, so I knew that TB was going to be at the right spot," Blackmon said. "That’s what we work on. He wedged, and it was a perfect play.”
Blackmon dribbled down to the left baseline and found Bryant, who had established position in the middle of the paint. Bryant said he thought Blackmon was going to shoot it, so the big man was more focused on getting in rebounding position.
"I knew I could get in the backside," Bryant said. "When James did that hesitation came through, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s open right here.’ I’m going to just keep wedging him out and just be on that backside, which he dumped it off to me, and it was a good pass.”
With three defenders swarming him, Blackmon found Bryant, who easily dunked the ball and drew a foul on Northwestern’s junior guard Scottie Lindsey in the process.
The tide finally turned for the Hoosiers.
During the recent slide, IU has been on the wrong end of several close losses, but IU Coach Tom Crean said his players have remained positive and focused through the difficult times.
“If you do those things and you stay consistent with it, at some point in time, the bounce is going to go your way,” Crean said. “And literally the bounce went our way.”
The game-winning plays were there after they had been missing the past month for IU. While both teams battled and traded runs at each other the entire way, the game came down to a single possession.
The Hoosiers said are confident this victory will propel them as the regular season enters its last week.
“We always stick with it, we know that we’re right there,” Blackmon said. “The games we lost have come down one or two possessions just like tonight. It was good to get this one going and it will probably get us rolling.”
