Trey Galloway has stepped up amid an up-and-down season for Indiana basketball showing his evolution as all-around playmaker

‘As long as I can find ways to help my team win, I’m going to do whatever it takes’. That has been a consistent theme from Indiana basketball senior co-captain Trey Galloway throughout his career. After starting as a reserve and rotational player, he morphed into an extremely key role player to then a starter. In his fourth season for Indiana, however, he’s been asked to do more than ever to try to help this team overcome some of its shortcomings.

Whether it’s scoring, defending opposing teams best players, making plays for his teammates or just being an energy guy — Galloway has done it all. And more.

His evolution shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. His work ethic has been the groundwork for who he is as a player and now, his versatility and overall offensive game has expanded more than ever.

But, at the end of the day he’s going to do what’s asked for him in any given moment. That moment in Tuesday’s 74-70 win over Wisconsin was to make plays for his teammates. He did that, and more.

Galloway finished tying a career-high of 12 assists and just two turnovers in 36 minutes. He had just six points on 3-of-10 shooting but also added four rebounds.

Tuesday was Galloway’s 24th game of at least 30 minutes this year and 15th game of at least 35 minutes. His ability to stay on the court is an example of the trust his coaching staff has in him, the trust he has in himself and the trust his teammates have.

“We got a lot of trust in Galloway. No doubt about that,” Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson said on Tuesday. “He’s played probably some of the most minutes of anybody on our team this year. So we trust when the ball is in his hands he can make basketball plays.”

Galloway’s play in Tuesday’s win is a perfect example of what he’s done all season long. After a brief disruption and evacuation of Assembly Hall due to fire alarms going off, the two teams resumed play, tied at 54-all with 10:06 remaining. Indiana had been outscored by 15 points over the last 16 minutes leading into the break after holding an early 15-point lead.

After a layup from Wisconsin guard Chucky Hepburn extended the Badgers lead to 63-60 with 5:54 remaining, Galloway took over the game. Indiana would go on to make on five of its final six field goals. Galloway assisted on four of those five. The other? A patented Galloway floater with 1:47 left to tie the game at 70 a piece.

“I thought tonight he delivered for us; made a lot of great plays,” Woodson added. “But he defended. I mean, his matchup was a tough matchup. He had a solid game. That’s what I expect from him. I told him I was very pleased with his play tonight.”

Six of Galloway’s 12 assists were to Indiana basketball center Kel’el Ware who turned in a 27-point effort on 11-of-12 from the floor.

The pick and roll connection between that duo was nearly unstoppable. Galloway’s ability to turn the corner and get downhill while keeping his defender on his hip allowed Ware to roll and catch almost every lob that was thrown his direction.

“Yeah, we’re always on the same team in practice,” Ware said postgame. “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.”

Galloway is now averaging 4.6 assists per game this season and his 5.3 assists in conference play rank 5th in the league. He also ranks 8th in conference games in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.4.

“It’s just about having my teammates trust me and the coaches putting the trust in me with the ball in my hands,” Galloway said earlier this season. “I think coach Woodson has really gained trust in me to have the ball in my hands to make plays for my teammates and myself.

“The biggest challenge was when to do things and take certain shots. But, that’s gone pretty well. As long as I can find ways to help my team win, I’m going to do whatever it takes.”

After Tuesday, Galloway finished February averaging 11.3 points and 7.0 assists per game. He has two 12-assist games in his last four outings. In those two games, he has 24 assists to just four turnovers.

With Tuesday’s 12-assist night, Galloway became the first player since Isiah Thomas in the 1980-81 season to have two games of at least 12 assists in a single season.

He needs just 17 more assists over the next three regular season games to set the Indiana basketball single-season record for assists in conference games — currently held by Quinn Bucker (106).

On the season, the senior guard is averaging 10.6 points per game on 45.6 percent shooting overall. While his shooting percentage has dropped two points, his three-point shooting by 20 percent and free throws by 11 percent, his usage rate has jumped nearly seven percent and his assist rate is up 12 percent.

In an Indiana basketball season that hasn’t gone according to plan and had its numerous ups-and-downs, Trey Galloway’s perseverance and evolution has been a bright spot — and one that shouldn’t get overlooked.

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