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Indiana Basketball: 5 things we learned following IU’s showing at the Empire Classic

Published

12 months ago

November 21, 2023

Taking a look at what we learned about Indiana basketball following a 1-1 showing in the Empire Classic this weekend. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

The Indiana basketball program went into this past weekend with some notable questions about where it was at as a team to start the season. It came out of New York and the Empire Classic with some of those questions answered, but others still needing one.

Indiana wrapped up its weekend with a 1-1 record; a loss to UConn and a win over Louisville. Neither game was pretty, but the Hoosiers did enough to come away with a win.

There’s a lot to digest from the weekend. So, let’s dive in.

Here are five things we learned following IU’s showing at the Empire Classic.

Three-point shooting is still a major, major concern. This was to be expected based off how the first three games of the season went but it’s an ugly trend that continues to be a major thorn in Indiana’s side. The Hoosiers entered the weekend just 11-of-40 on 3s this season and went just 4-of-24 in two games. Indiana hit three 3s against UConn and just a 1-of-11 showing against Louisville on Monday. Indiana is now 15-of-64 on 3s — just 23.4 percent on the season. Yes, it’s the inability to hit 3s, but more so, it’s the reluctance to shoot. Indiana has attempted just 12.8 3s per game and getting just 12.5 percent of its total points from the perimeter on the season, ranked 360th in the nation. Xavier Johnson is leading Indiana at 50 percent (5-of-10) and Kel’el Ware is second on the team at 42.9 percent (3-of-7). UConn head coach Dan Hurley said it best following UConn’s 20-point win.

“Just paint, paint, paint for them,” Hurley said. “The three-point line is not something — at this point for them — that’s a strength.”

Indiana is now getting outscored on 3s this season, 147-45.

More: ‘Just paint, paint, paint for them’: Inability to shoot 3s for Indiana basketball makes for easy defensive work on opponents

Malik Reneau can be the go-to guy, but he needs to stay on the floor. The biggest question this offseason surrounding Malik Reneau was if his foul issues would be eliminated this year. Through the first three games, they were. But once again he struggled against power five opponents this weekend. Reneau was unguardable against UConn when he was on the floor, scoring 18 points on 7-of-9 from the field. His ability to turn quickly out of an oncoming double team was extremely effective and gave him numerous opportunities at the rim. But, it was the foul trouble that held him in check. He fouled out at the 7:04 mark of the second half. Indiana would go on to make just two more field goals. When he fouled out, he had 18 of the 48 points and seven of the 15 made field goals.

“That’s hard, leaving your team out there 10 minutes to go, it’s just hard to deal with that,” Reneau said about fouling out against UConn. “Understanding that my team is not there without me, and I know they need me on the court, so dealing with dumb fouls or dumb situations like that, I gotta stop.”

Against Louisville, Reneau was in foul trouble for the entire game, playing just eight minutes in the first half. In the second half, he sat from the 18:28 mark until the 11:41 mark with three fouls. Then he picked up his fourth just a minute into his return to the court. After sitting for about two minutes he returned to the court and took the game over. He had all 10 of his second half points and 10 of the 23 points for Indiana over that final 9:31 stretch. He finished with 12 points on 3-of-5 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line.

The early season struggles continue for Mackenzie Mgbako. It’s definitely a concerning trend; the inability to keep Mgbako on the floor. While his offense has struggled, his defense did even more. It was the first two matchups against power five opponents and he clearly struggled with the defensive assignments once again. Off ball defense for him is a major concern. In total, he scored just six points in two games this weekend and played just nine minutes against Louisville. He picked up two early fouls in the first half and saw only a few minutes in the second half. But, one good takeaway was how engaged he was in the second half despite his struggles. He had some good defensive sequences on the ball and picked up three big assists when he was on the floor. This season, he’s just 1-of-13 from three.

“He’s a young player, man,” Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson said following the win over Louisville. “I mean all of you guys expect him to be this great player right now because he’s got this five-star tag on him. I think that’s bullshit. The bottom line is, he’s still young, he’s trying to learn the college game. I thought he played well but he got two early fouls so I took him out and brought someone else in … He’ll be fine.”

Bench production showed up when needed most — it was a key coming into this year but struggled early this season. The bench unit was expected to be a key part of this team this season but had struggled to begin the year — until Monday. When Indiana needed it most, that group stepped up in a big, big way. As Indiana saw early foul trouble for Mgbako and Reneau, it was a combination of Anthony Walker and Kaleb Banks who stepped up in the first half. Walker had nine of his 11 points before halftime in addition to four rebounds. His versatility shined offensively, as did his aggressiveness. Banks finally looked healthy after dealing with a groin issue to start the year. He had four points, five rebounds and three assists in the first half. His energy was contagious for that second unit and really gave the Hoosiers a spark in the first half when it was needed.

It was more of the same in the second half for Banks and this time Payton Sparks. After Kel’el Ware and Reneau picked up early fouls to start the second half, Sparks provided that spark in the front court. He scored six of his nine points after halftime and also added some key defense and toughness in the paint. Banks kept his play up — finishing with four points, eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals. He was tremendous all night long on both ends of the floor and showed off his versatility on both ends of the floor — something Mike Woodson talked about heading into the season. The second unit totaled 30 points and combined 11 out of the 24 made field goals the entire night against Louisville. CJ Gunn provided nice minutes in both games and averaged 6.5 points per game in the two matchups as well.

“I like to think that we will learn from this game, continue to grow,” Woodson said of the bench. “Big Payton was great for us. CJ was great. The whole group was — even Gabe (Cupps). Everybody that played tonight contributed, and that’s how we got to play the rest of the way.

“He’s still learning. But the fact that he rebounded the ball, defended, he got a couple of steals, had three or four assists. That’s making an impact when you come into the ball game,” Woodson said on Banks. “I tip my hat off to him because he’s patiently been waiting to play probably more minutes and he probably played more minutes tonight that he’s played since he’s been here.”

Indiana may be bringing out the zone defense more often than anyone anticipated. And it saved Indiana on Monday. There’s no question that defense has been the biggest strength under Mike Woodson his first two years. But, this year may be different and has been to start the year. Indiana’s man-to-man defense has been brutal and it was going to lose them the game if Woodson stayed with that on Monday. Louisville was getting just about everything it wanted in the paint. Whether that was drawing a foul, finishing at the rim or getting into the paint and dishing off for an open look. Then, the zone changed the game. Louisville was up 56-51 with 9:54 left in the game when Indiana made the shift to zone. The Cardinals would go on to make just two more field goals — one dunk and one layup by Skyy Clark with four seconds remaining in the game.

“It threw us off,” Louisville guard Skyy Clark said. “We started playing tentative, holding the ball … the biggest thing was just playing way too tentative.”

“Woody did a good job with his team … They made adjustments and they picked up the adjustments quickly,” Louisville head coach Kenny Payne said postgame. “I knew Woody wouldn’t play zone, at least I thought I knew. He tricked me.”

The Cardinals went just 2-of-10 the remainder of the game. Indiana would go on to finish on a 23-8 run after it went to its 2-2-1 to 2-3 zone defense. That included a 13-2 run in the last 3:38 of the game.

“We couldn’t stop their step up pick and rolls,” Woodson said postgame about the change to zone. “Had we continued down that path, (Kel’el) Ware and Malik (Reneau) would’ve fouled out of the ball game. It was the right thing to do and probably caught them off guard since I don’t normally play zone … but we were aggressive enough and rebounded out of it.”