BLOOMINGTON -- Indiana basketball was happy to have Kanaan Carlyle back in the lineup on Monday night in a 82-67 win over Minnesota.
Carlyle had his best game in a Hoosiers' uniform with 14 points including three made 3-pointers and five assists after missing the team's previous three games with an undisclosed injury that he suffered in a loss to Gonzaga during the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Indiana coach Mike Woodson was happy to throw Carlyle back into the mix after the sophomore made it through practice on Sunday without any issues.
It was his first full practice since IU's trip to the Bahamas.
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"I'm feeling good," Carlyle said, after the game. "It was just rehab treatment, a lot of form shots, a lot of shooting just to get me confidence back, my jump shot back. It felt good to perform the way I did today and all the hard work paying off."
That success came with Carlyle coming off the bench for the first time this season.
The Stanford transfer started IU's first six games and 16 of the 23 games he played as a true freshman. Woodson was non-committal about the lineup while Carlyle was sidelined, but he ultimately decided to keep Trey Galloway in the starting lineup.
"I went with Gallo because we'd been starting him and K-9 just came back and he didn't take it personal," Woodson said. "He just came in and did his job and somebody's got to come off the bench."
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Woodson ended up splitting the minutes fairly evenly amongst Indiana's backcourt with Myles Rice, Galloway and Carlyle each playing 20-plus minutes.
"I can't start everybody and I don't know if that line-up will stay the same, but the bottom line is he did his job coming in to help us win our first Big Ten game," Woodsons said. "We're going to need everybody, regardless of who starts to play at a high level when they play."
Carlyle was one of IU's high-profile signings in the offseason as the 15th-ranked transfer in the country, according to 247 sports. He was a similarly touted prospect coming out of Overtime Elite in the 2023 signing class as the country's 52nd ranked overall prospect.
After the game, Carlyle made it clear that he's not hung up on his title.
"I'm perfectly fine with coming off the bench," Carlyle said. "I want to win games, whether it's being the sixth man, eighth man, tenth man or starting two guard, I don't care. As long as we win, I'm here to do my job, to play defense and provide what I can on offense. That's it."
Indiana's bench came into the game averaging 18.2 points per game. They put up 32 points against the Gophers -- their second most of the season -- and Carlyle was equally effective on defense.
"Woody preaches defense every single, so I knew when I came here my job was going to be that two-way player," Carlyle said. "I take pride in that individually and my teammates all encourage me and they be up there with me, so it's easy for me to bring that energy when you got teammates behind you who bring the same energy."
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.