Minnesota at Indiana game-changing moments; Thomas Bryant to the rescue

1. Thomas Bryant going good Troy Williams

You know what good Troy Williams is. He grabs a rebound or gets an outlet, goes coast-to-coast, blowing by a defender or two, and makes a rare, smooth finish at the hoop. Coming out of the under-12 timeout in the first half on Saturday, the sluggish Hoosiers were in need of a spark, and Thomas Bryant provided just that. With Indiana trailing 15-14, Bryant grabbed a rebound after an O.G. Anunoby block and proceeded to take the ball the length of the floor, showing off his ball skills right in front of Richard Pitino, and finishing with a layup to give Indiana its first lead of the game.

The Hoosiers expanded the lead to as much as 16 before the under-16 timeout in the second half after Bryant's monstrous play, and they needed every bit of it considering Minnesota's big run in the second half.

2. Bad Troy Williams. . . again

By the under-12 timeout (which came with less than 10 minutes remaining), Minnesota had chipped the Indiana lead to six. Everyone could sense, give the game-long shooting woes, that the Hoosiers needed a playmaker to step up. From that point on, Troy Williams went 0-for-4 with three missed layups and a miserable turnover that handed Minnesota the lead, and played some of the worst transition defense that you'll ever see someone that athletic play. It was the second considerable stretch in as many games that bad, pre-Big Ten Williams made an appearance. And it nearly doomed Indiana for the second straight contest.

3. Thomas and Yogi in winning time

With just under two minutes to play, Williams missed one of those layups, but savvy Bryant grabbed an opposite-side rebound and laid the ball back in to give Indiana a lead that they would not relinquish. After a couple good defensive possessions, Anunoby grabbed a big rebound after a missed Minnesota three point attempt and got the outlet to Yogi Ferrell.

With just 35 seconds or so remaining, Yogi could have pulled the ball out and either milked the clock or forced Minnesota to foul, but the veteran leader pushed the ball up the floor past the jogging Gophers and created a 2-on-1 offensive possession that ended with Thomas Bryant flushing home a two-hand jam.

Four Yogi free throws later, the Hoosiers were 8-1 at the halfway point of Big Ten play and had survived what was easily their worst shooting performance of the season. And what it all boiled down to was Thomas Bryant and Yogi Ferrell in winning time.