BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Trey Galloway was in attack mode. Off one screen or two, or even in the open court, the Indiana senior was getting downhill Tuesday night against Wisconsin, and getting downhill with his hair on fire.
And at the end of his action most of the night, there was Kel’el Ware, diving to the rim. Galloway hit the long and lanky 7-foot center with lobs often — six times to be exact. He finished with 12 assists, which tied a career high, and Ware had a game-high 27 points in a thrilling — and crazily interrupted — 74-70 victory over the Badgers.
For an Indiana team that needed a win in the worst way, Ware and Galloway made sure that happened. Losing four games in a row — especially the way they did it — was a hard pill to swallow. Even sitting though a 20-minute delay for a fire drill was worth the wait.
That losing streak — ugly losses to Purdue, Northwestern, Nebraska, Penn State — was hard for everyone to handle. So was losing to Wisconsin in January in Madison, which is never fun because it simply added to the 25-year losing streak up there. Ware missed that game with an ankle injury, and had to watch from the sidelines, unable to help in the 91-79 beatdown that really wasn’t that close.
He helped Tuesday, in a big way. He made 11-of-12 shots, had 11 rebounds and a season-high five blocked shots. Ware is the second player nationally this season — Johni Broome of Auburn was first — to record at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocked shots in a game.
He and Galloway made quite a tandem, especially in screen/roll actions.
The coaches always say, yeah, go hit the guy, and the roll and that pocket pass is always going to be open,” Ware said during his postgame press conference. “My job is to go up and set that screen and hit them and that’s how I get my points.”
He and Galloway were in synch all night.
“Yeah, we’re always on the same team in practice, so that helps when it comes to the game, just building that chemistry and learning each other and where to pass it and how to pass it and getting the ball to the right spot,” Ware said.
This was the second time in nine days that Galloway — who’s been thrown into Indiana’s point guard spot by default — has had 12 assists in a game. That’s the first time he’s ever done it, of course, and it’s been a rare feat in recent Indiana history.