Turnovers, missed free throws, and some seriously questionable defensive lapses turned what could’ve been a win into yet another painful Big Ten loss for Indiana Hoosiers. After starting the season strong at 13-3, Indiana has now stumbled to 14-7 following a 79-78 loss to Maryland. While fans were already completely fed up, coach Mike Woodson’s postgame actions just made it worse.
The Hoosiers, playing at home in Bloomington, had everything going for them—until the final 2.5 minutes. That’s when they let Maryland close the game on a 9-3 run. And you know, Indiana had a 78-74 lead with just 38 seconds left. Plenty of time to lock in the win, right? Wrong.
The Hoosiers completely fumbled their execution down the stretch, and Maryland made them pay for it. First, Maryland’s Ja’Koni Gillespie hit a jumper to make it 78-76. No big deal, Hoosiers still had the upper hand. They put the ball in the hands of senior guard Trey Galloway, who got fouled immediately.å∠
It didn’t make sense at all as Galloway is a 65.5% free-throw shooter, while Myles Rice, who’s at 90.2% from the line, was also on the court. Unsurprisingly, Galloway missed the front end of the one-and-one with 22 seconds left.
Which team defeated the Indiana Hoosiers with a 9-3 run in the final minutes of their recent game?
Maryland came down the court, and Indiana had a foul to give. But instead of using it, they let Rodney Rice pull up and drain a three to give Maryland a 79-78 lead with just seven seconds left.
Indiana called a timeout to draw up a final play, but they completely botched it. By the time the final buzzer sounded, boos rained down. But fans, who’ve already been losing patience, reached their breaking point after the game.
A now-viral video shows Woodson making a beeline for the locker room—totally skipping the handshake line—until senior Luke Goode stopped him. And since the video hit the internet, social media hasn’t been kinder with users criticizing Woodson.
The first one straight-up labeled him a “Coward.” Fans think that Woodson’s decision to turn and walk straight to the locker room without shaking hands was a cowardly move like he didn’t want to face his opponent after a tough loss. Then there’s the next comment, “Somebody at IU get some ba-s and get rid of this guy. Just keeps embarrassing himself and the school.”
As the head coach, Woodson is supposed to represent the school, and after that loss—and his questionable postgame actions—people feel like this is embarrassing not just for him, but for Indiana as a whole. Next up, “Woodson has about 5 IQ points on Kenny Payne but wants to act like he’s coach K 🤣.”
Well, this one’s a shot at Woodson’s coaching abilities, comparing him to Kenny Payne, who recorded 12 wins and 52 losses over two of his seasons at Louisville. Fans are basically saying Woodson is only a tiny bit better than Payne but carries confidence as the legendary Duke Coach K.
Then some came to his defense saying, “Woodson seems too nice to bail on sportsmanship, I think he was having a Joe Biden moment there.” Some believe the coach just had a momentary lapse in judgment. Like, maybe he just forgot to do the handshake, like President Biden, who’s known for his public gaffe.
But most were not so forgiving as one wrote, “When 22-year-olds show more maturity than you, it might be time to hang it up.” They meant Goode, at just 22 years old, showed more maturity by stepping in to remind Woodson than the coach did himself. For fans, it’s like a wake-up call for the head coach to already step down and the calls for his retirement aren’t happening for the first time.
So, as the opinions will keep coming, this loss drops Indiana to 5-5 in the Big Ten and this result will likely have massive implications on the conference standings. For now, Mike Woodson and his crew are also still looking for a quality win.
Is it time for Indiana to part ways with Mike Woodson after the latest embarrassing loss?