Indiana basketball finally puts it all together in win over North Alabama

Indiana basketball put together one of their best offensive performances of the season in their 83-66 win over North Alabama at Assembly Hall.

After barely surviving against Morehead State on Tuesday, the Hoosiers looked like a completely different team on Thursday. Indiana did not trail once and pulled away in the second half on their way to a comfortable win.

Indiana forward Malik Reneau led the way scoring a career-high 25 points. Reneau also set another career-high with his four-made threes in the win.

“I’ve been working out with Coach [Calbert] Cheaney a lot, just understanding how he played the game, how he was able to work around the court, be able to get his shot wherever he wanted on the court,” Reneau said about his development as a shooter. “Just getting reps up, man, being confident when you go out there, not being scared to shoot the ball. I think that was the main part for me.”

Reneau was not the only Hoosier who was successful from distances as the team made 12 of their 24 three-point attempts in the win.

“A lot of improvement from the three. I think we really coming in, like, this past week or so, you could see a lot of people had been in the gym getting up shots, getting up extra shots,” Reneau said about the team’s improvement from three. “Even during practice, after practice, before practice. I think that contributed to having so much confidence on the court and being able to knock down shots.”

Indiana’s season-high 12 threes was also the most threes made by an Indiana team during the Mike Woodson era.

“It’s good to see the ball go in the hole. When you take ’em, you’re supposed to make ’em,” Woodson said about the shooting performance. “I thought tonight we did a good job in getting the ball moved around. We had 25 assists. That means the ball was moving a little bit and guys made some shots.”

Reneau was not the only Hoosier to set a career-high against North Alabama as senior guard Trey Galloway also set a career-high with his team-leading 9 assists.

“When Gabe got the two fouls, Trey is basically our only ball handler big-time on the floor,” Woodson said about Galloway.” I thought he did a great job in getting us into our sets and getting the ball where it needed to go.”

Galloway finished with 8 points and he did everything needed for Indiana basketball. After UNA cut the Indiana lead to single digits early in the second half, Galloway made a string of plays over the next three minutes to help the Hoosiers pull away.

With 18:03 left in the game, Dallas Howell made a three to cut the Hoosier lead from 11 to 8. Galloway immediately responded, he made a three to get the lead back up to double-digits. He then assisted on Indiana’s next three scores to help increase the Hoosier lead from 8 to 17.

The Hoosiers lead never dropped below 15 points after that run as they coasted to a 17-point win. Galloway’s nine assists were just part of the impressive display of ball movement from Indiana basketball.

“Well, again, we’ve had good looks all year. The ball has moved some all year. Just got to stick the ball in the hole when you have the shots. I thought tonight guys were comfortable, they shot it,” Woodson said about the team’s offensive performance. “When they had the shoot they took it and they made it. But we had bodies moving. We set some screens. That helps, too. You got some good looks.”

Indiana assisted on 25 of their 31 field goals which was more than double the amount of assists North Alabama had (12). The ball did not stick and guys were moving it and the ball movement became contagious on the court for the Hoosiers.

“Everybody’s touching the ball. Everybody feels like they’re a part of the team. We had a lot of assists tonight,” Reneau said about the ball movement. “… Just being able to move the ball and get everybody a touch and get everybody a feel of the ball to not feel like you left out on the court or you just out there. I feel like when you touching the ball, you get more confidence and the ball’s moving around, you get more shots, everybody is getting a shot. That was a great thing to see.”

After a rough offensive showing on Tuesday against Morehead State, Indiana basketball came out and looked like a completely different team on Thursday.

“Yeah, I mean, a win’s a win to me because I’m always gauging based on how we play,” Woodson said about the comparison between the  Morehead State game and Thursday’s win. “We didn’t play particularly well in our last ballgame, the first half. The second half, when we went on our run, we started playing Indiana basketball. Tonight I thought we came out ready. We consistently played well throughout the course of the game. The results was a win.”

The Hoosiers will need to build off of this performance as they play only one more non-conference game against Kennesaw State on Dec. 29 before they dive into Big Ten play to start the new year.

SEE ALSO: Coach Q&A: Mike Woodson reacts to the Indiana basketball 83-66 win over North Alabama

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