Woodson, Goode Give Message To Fans After Indiana’s Ugly Loss To Illinois

The Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall crowd booed the Hoosiers and chanted ‘Fire Woodson’ during Indiana’s second straight 25-point loss Tuesday against Illinois.
Indiana's Luke Goode (10) shoots over Illinois' Tre White (22) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Indiana's Luke Goode (10) shoots over Illinois' Tre White (22) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana fans expressed their frustration throughout Tuesday’s 94-69 loss to Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

It started early, when fans booed coach Mike Woodson during pregame introductions. The boos carried on sporadically as the Hoosiers shot just 38.5% from the field, were dominated on the glass and offered little defensive resistance. 

“Fire Woodson” chants broke out loudly from the student section as the Illinois lead grew to 20 points near the midway point of the first half. The loudest boos rained down on the Hoosiers as they walked into the locker room trailing 60-32 at halftime.

A noticeable portion of the Assembly Hall crowd left at halftime. Those that had brief moments to cheer as Indiana made a 10-0 run to start the second half and later cut the lead to 16 points.  But it never really threatened to come back, and there was nothing to be excited about for the final 13-plus minutes as the Hoosiers were blown out again.

The loss set a number of ugly Indiana records. Indiana gave up a school record 60 points in the first half. It lost by 25 points in a second straight game for the first time since 2008. Illinois achieved its widest margin of victory over Indiana in Bloomington since 1956. 

What’s Woodson’s message to the fans to reassure them about the direction of the team?

“I love our fans and I respect our fans, but it's up to me to get our players to play at a high level,” Woodson said. “That's my job, and I'm going to continue to work in that area and hope that our fans will hang in there with us.”

Mike Woodson Indiana Basketball
Indiana coach Mike Woodson with Luke Goode (10) and Mackenzie Mgbako (21) against Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Indiana senior Luke Goode had a strong message to fans postgame, too.

“I understand it. We got embarrassed,” Goode said. “We have to wear this jersey with more pride as Indiana basketball players. This program is too historical and too great to be represented like that. But to all those fans that were booing and are so negative on social media, just don't switch sides when we get this thing turned around. We all got the confidence in our teammates, got the confidence in our coaches, so stay on that side when we start being successful again.”

So where does Indiana go from here? The Hoosiers fell to 13-5 overall and 4-3 in Big Ten play, good for seventh place in the new 18-team conference standings. They have a trip to Ohio State at 8 p.m. ET Friday, one of eight opportunities to pick up Quad 1 wins over the next nine games.

“We have two different options,” Leal said. “and I think as long as we can all get on the same page about the fact that we can win those nine games, turn the season around, we can make everybody's dreams come true, right? So I think it's just approaching every day with a new, fresh mentality and understanding we do have a lot of work to do. The work needs to be done.”

Recent losses to Iowa and Illinois don’t inspire confidence that Indiana will turn its season around, but Woodson, Goode and Leal aren’t ready to give up, based on postgame comments. 

“We can't let this be a snowball effect,” Woodson said. “We got a long way to go in this Big Ten. Do I think we're good enough to win? Yeah, I do. I just got to get us to believe that and keep pushing these guys in the right direction.”

Indiana did not get off to a particularly slow start against Illinois as it trailed 10-8 through the first three-plus minutes. But the Illini broke the game open with a 10-0 run shortly after and never looked back. 

Slow starts have been more of an issue in previous games, and that has made Woodson ponder an adjustment moving forward.

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

Shooting woes and an overall poor offensive performance led to Indiana’s fourth lowest scoring game of the season. Indiana also gave up a season-high 94 points. Leal believes there’s an issue with the Hoosiers’ effort. 

Woodson said going into the season this was his most talented team in four years, and Leal also sees the talent required to have a good season. But all of that goes away if the team does not play hard together.

“To be honest, there’s a lot of defensive schemes we can run, and it really doesn't matter what we do if we're not going to do it hard, with effort and toughness,” Leal said. “That's what it comes down to. Obviously they have some really talented players on their team. They're a good team. But we know we're talented and a good team as well. We just aren't matching anybody's toughness or togetherness or effort right now. I think that's the problem.”

Anthony Leal Indiana Basketball
Indiana guard Anthony Leal (3) against Penn State at the Palestra. / Taj Falconer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Woodson hinted at potential lineup changes after Tuesday’s loss, and Leal believes changes need to be made with the players’ approach and mentality.

“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. Just reassessing everything and setting our priorities straight man to man and man to himself and finding ways to win games.”

Related stories on Indiana basketball

  • GAME STORY: Indiana suffers record-breaking blowout in loss to No. 19 Illinois on Tuesday. CLICK HERE.
  • POSTGAME REACTION: Indiana Hoosiers On SI writers Jack Ankony and Todd Golden share their thoughts on Indiana's 94-69 loss to Illinois Tuesday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. CLICK HERE
  • WHAT WOODSON SAID: Mike Woodson faced the media after Indiana suffered its second straight 25-point defeat in Big Ten play. CLICK HERE
  • HOOSIERS, ILLINI SCUFFLE: Luke Goode’s hard block out on Illinois’ Tomislav Ivisic ignited a baseline confrontation between the two teams late in Indiana's 94-69 loss that resulted in an ejection for Indiana’s Oumar Ballo. CLICK HERE.
  • ILLINOIS PERSPECTIVE: Illinois talks about its big win over Indiana in enemy territory. CLICK HERE.

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Jack Ankony
JACK ANKONY

Jack Ankony is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation writer for HoosiersNow.com. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism. Follow on Twitter @ankony_jack.