Julian Reese elevated for a midrange jumper, looking to end Maryland’s five-and-a-half-minute scoring drought. But as the junior forward’s arms went up, the ball went down — into the waiting hands of Indiana sophomore center Kel’el Ware.
Three dribbles took Ware to the Hoosiers’ 3-point line, and after two long strides, the 7-footer battled through contact to throw down an emphatic two-handed flush.
Senior guard Trey Galloway rushed to Ware’s side, giving a physical chest bump. On Ware’s right, Indiana’s bench exploded — senior forward Anthony Walker joined freshman guards Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton, jumping onto the court in excitement.
The Hoosiers, after trailing by 16 points with 17:51 to play in the second half, suddenly found themselves up double-digits for the first time with four minutes remaining Sunday. Ware’s dunk and ensuing free throw capped a 15-0 run that spanned over five minutes.
Indiana basketball, at least for the moment, was back. The energy, the talent, the results — the Hoosiers (16-13, 8-10 Big Ten) put everything together for a feverish finish in College Park, Maryland, securing an 83-78 victory over the Terrapins (15-15, 7-12 Big Ten).
“I don’t think anybody on our team ever stopped believing,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “We just haven’t been able to put 40-minute ball games together like I envisioned. I thought tonight we played a terrible first half, but we never quit.”
Trailing by double digits is a position Indiana’s grown well accustomed to this season, facing such a deficit in each of its first six games of February. Apart from an 18-point comeback win over Ohio State on Feb. 6, the Hoosiers often clawed their way back into games but still fell short.
That wasn’t an option this time around.
Not for sixth-year senior point guard Xavier Johnson, who grew up an hour away from the XFINITY Center and had 16 family members in attendance. Not for Ware, who was torn into by Woodson in the locker room after a scoreless first half. Not for an Indiana team desperate to play its way into a first-round bye at the Big Ten Tournament.
And so, the Hoosiers did what they’ve done so rarely this season: get momentum and keep it until the clock hit zero.
“The past couple games, we’ll cut the lead and then we’ll go back to doing what we were doing to lose the game,” Johnson said. “This game, we had to raise our level, raise our bar. With us coming back, we wanted to win, and everybody raised their bar.”
Johnson’s return has coincided with a two-game winning streak, Indiana’s first since the calendar flipped to 2024. He missed each of February’s first six games due to a left elbow injury sustained Jan. 30 against Iowa.
Woodson has often attributed Indiana’s disappointing season to the absence of Johnson, who also missed seven games this year due to a broken foot.
Sunday’s second half leaves one asking: “What if?”
“We’ve played a lot of good basketball in spurts,” Woodson said. “I would like to think things would’ve been a lot different if we had X in a lot of those games we let get away.”
Woodson and freshman forward Mackenzie Mgbako hailed Johnson’s defensive presence, floor leadership and ability to push the tempo, creating open shots and making Indiana’s offense look as fluid as it has all season.
The Hoosiers made 12 consecutive shots in the second half and finished the frame 19-of-26 from the field. For the game, Indiana went 7-of-16 from distance, its second consecutive outing shooting better than 40%. Woodson’s team went 14-of-17 from the foul stripe, its second-best this season and just the fourth time it’s been above 80%.
Indiana is the Big Ten’s third-worst 3-point shooting team at 32.2% and ranks last in free throw percentage at 65.8% — but behind Johnson’s efficient 13-point, six-assist, one-turnover performance, the Hoosiers enjoyed one of their best shooting days of the campaign.
“It’s something that we’ve lacked this season,” Woodson said. “We’ve struggled to put the ball in the hole. Tonight, it all came together. I think X had a lot to do with it.”
As effective as Indiana’s offense was in the second half, its defense was similarly paramount in sparking the rally.
The Terrapins, who Johnson said were getting straight-line drives and layups at the rim in the first half, had seven turnovers and endured a seven-minute stretch with no field goals in the second half.
“Our defense was solid,” Woodson said. “Gave up 43 in the first half. We weren’t playing Indiana basketball from a defensive standpoint, and we let them know that, and I thought we responded.”
For 22 minutes, the Hoosiers appeared poised to follow the same storyline as they’ve done the last several weeks: start in contention before digging too deep of a grave to climb out from.
But this time, the script flipped. Indiana, for the third time this season, overcame a 15-point deficit to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat.
“It just shows our toughness and resilience,” Mgbako said. “We’ve been in positions like that before so it’s good to climb back and get that dub.”
The Hoosiers’ victory is their third over a Quadrant 1 opponent this season. Still, their postseason odds are slim. Their chances of making the NCAA Tournament are even slimmer.
Indiana has two regular season games left — the first at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Minnesota — before the Big Ten Tournament, which it likely needs to win to make March Madness.
But with Johnson back and momentum shifting, Indiana’s train is on the right track — and may be finding its groove when it absolutely needs it the most.
“It’s very important and it’s different,” Johnson said. “Because we’ve got two bigs inside who can score the ball — you’ve got Kel’el that’s very versatile and Malik who can score the ball as well. When you add shooting to them, I don’t think anybody can beat us.”
Follow reporters Will Foley (@foles24) and Matt Press (@MattPress23) and columnist Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
