Anthony Leal’s heroics against OSU a reminder of his days at Bloomington South

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Indiana basketball guard Trey Galloway might have been the most confident person at Value Center Arena on Tuesday night when he kicked the ball out to the corner.

Galloway saw a wide open Anthony Leal, his longtime teammate going back to their days playing for Indiana Elite on the AAU circuit, out of the corner of his eye.

He knew what would happen next — Leal knocked down the go-ahead 3-pointer with 22.4 seconds to cap off a wild 76-73 comeback win over Ohio State. The Hoosiers trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half.

Leal also hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds, but the 3-pointer was his only field goal attempt in 26 minutes on the court.

“I trust him, he trusts me, that combination and that trust we have for each other is special,” Galloway said, after the game. “...I want him to shoot that 10 times out of 10.”

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The former Mr. Basketball in Indiana had conjured up the same kind of magic in recent weeks for the Hoosiers as he brought to Bloomington South.

Leal said his clutch 3-pointer on Tuesday night was his biggest shot since he hit a buzzer-beater back in 2020 to give Bloomington South a 69-66 win over Silver Creek. As a senior, he also ended Floyd Central’s 31-game home winning streak with a game-winning shot in overtime.

He’s added to that legacy in recent weeks starting with the career-high 13 points in a 74-68 win over Iowa. The crowd at Assembly Hall was deafening when Leal hit a 3-pointer to give Indiana a lead with less than seven minutes to go.

“I’m just glad he’s really kind of just stayed with it all this time because he could have easily really just gave up and quick when he wasn’t getting minutes,” Galloway said. “But I mean, just the way he’s fought and the way he’s just stuck his nose in there and kept competing and kept being a great teammate, it’s paid off.”

After playing all of 24 minutes in 2022-23, Leal remained mostly an emergency option through the team’s first 16 games. He played 58 total minutes during that span, a number he’s surpassed in just the last four games.

It’s only the second time in his entire career that he’s played double-digit minutes in four straight games, and it doesn't look like he's coming out of the rotation any time soon.

"Confidence level is he's on the floor, letting him go in crunch,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said, of Leal. “...That's what basketball is all about.”

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball senior Anthony Leal's stacking clutch performance