Hoosiers Wake Up in 2nd Half, Blow Out Eastern Illinois 90-55

Indiana was brutal in the first half, but completely turned the tables in the second, blowing out Eastern Illinois 90-55 on Sunday at Assembly Hall. They had three double-digits runs in 10 minutes to take over.

Eastern Illinois guard Nakyel Shelton (3) celebrates in front of Indiana forward Mackenzie Mgbako (21) after a made shot. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — There wasn't a doubleheader scheduled Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, but it sure seemed like two different games were played.

After a horribly lethargic first half that saw Indiana trailing, the Hoosiers completely turned things around with a dominant second half. They had three different double-digit runs in a 10-minute window and cruised to a 90-55 victory over Eastern Illinois (1-2).

"We just came out a little flatfooted,'' junior forward Malik Reneau said. "I think we thought the team was a little, not sorrier than we thought, but like way less talented than we thought and they came out and performed. They shot about (60 percent) from the field in that first half.

"And then I felt like in the second half we just stepped that game up; everybody did. Just was up to touch on guards, pressuring the ball, stuff like that. So we just changed our mindset going into the second half. But we've got to have that for all 40 minutes, and I think that's why they had a great half in the first half.''

For as ugly as the first half was, the second was a thing of beauty. Eastern made its first two shots of the second half to take a 43-38 lead and then went 2-for-25 shooting in the next 15 minutes. Indiana turned up its defense a notch — or maybe two — and it led to a lot of easy run-outs.

Their first double-digit run was 11-0, and it gave them a 49-43 lead with 16:05 to go. The second, which went 13-0, gave Indiana a 62-45 lead with 11:46 left and the final14-point stretch blew it open, making it 76-48. They lead by as many as 36.

It was night and day.

"That's an understatement,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said when asked about his Hoosiers not playing hard in the first haf. "I thought we were still home in the bed sleep. It was awful. You got to give Eastern Illinois credit because they played hard and made shots.

"I thought our defense intensity was just lacking the first half. We adjusted the second half and guys came out and got after it. Couldn't ask for a better second half.''

The lethargic first half, which we've seen before with Noon ET games, lasted far too long. Eastern Illinois, which lost to Illinois by 45 in its season opener last Monday, took what it wanted offensively from Indiana. They shot 59.3 percent from the field and hit five threes. They even handled their bit of adversity well, bouncing back after a 7-0 Indiana run that gave the Hoosiers a 27-20 lead. The Panthers went on a 7-0 run of their own, and a 15-5 run to grab a five-point lead with 1:34 left in the half. It was 37-36 Panthers at the break.

"I felt like we started to play together play as a unit,'' Tucker said. "We started pressing 94 feet and put a lot of pressure on the ball. That really opened things up for us. Nobody expected that team to come out and be up on us at halftime. When we went back to the locker room everybody was really locked in like this should never happen.

"Any team we play you don't want to go down at halftime, so we just came out with a whole different level of intensity and we really locked it in.''

Indiana had four players in double figures, with sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako leading the way with 18. He had 31 in the opening night win over SIU-Edwardsville. Center Oumar Ballo and forward Malike Reneau had 17 each, and freshman Bryson Tucker had 12, all coming in the second half.

Senior guard Trey Galloway had a big impact, too. He had five points and eight assists in 18 minutes of action. That's 17 assists now over two games, and all in just 35 minutes.

"Gallo has been great,'' Woodson said. "A lot of that is a spin from last season, when we basically converted him from off the ball to putting him on the ball based on the injuries that we had.

"We're benefitting from it because he's gotten better over the summer. You know, even though he hadn't played much, you could see what little he's done since he's come back after injuries, his injury in practice, that has helped his game tremendously, and we're benefitting from it. Man, it's really nice to see.''

His teammates sure appreciate Galloway's willingness — and ability — to share the ball.

"Yeah, he opens the floor for everybody. The way he controls the ball and is able to get it to the right gay tee right moment, it just opens up the whole floor for us. It just gives Ballo and us opportunities to post high, I mean, down low, and then the shooters get open and threes and knock them down.

"He just knows how to read the defense and get it to where the ball needs to go.''

Woodson wouldn't talk about his halftime speech, but he got after his players. The veterans spoke up too, and the mindset — and effort — were completely different after the break.

"We just came out with a whole different level of intensity and got locked in. It's most of our older dudes, like (Luke) Goode, who's obviously won where he's been at (Illinois). He knows where we're trying to get to. Trey too, since he's been back, and Myles (Rice) too, because he's the point guard. But we all talk.

"Collectively we all really talk to each other and get each other on the same page most of the time.

Indiana is back in action on Saturday when it moves up in class and takes on South Carolina from the SEC. It's the only high-profile nonconference home game this season.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• LIVE BLOG: Relive all the play-by-play from the Indiana-Eastern Illinois game in real time in Todd Golden's live blog. CLICK HERE

• POINT SPREAD: Indiana is back in action on Sunday, taking on Eastern Illinois at Assembly Hall. Here's the latest on the point spread, with a thorough look at how both teams have done vs. the number. Lots of interesting trends. CLICK HERE