BASKETBALL

Indiana basketball looking to regroup after ‘learning lesson’ in Bahamas

The Indiana basketball program is back on the floor and looks to use this upcoming week to regroup after a ‘learning lesson’ last week.

Published

19 hours ago

December 3, 2024

Alec Lasley

The Indiana basketball program is back on the floor and looks to use this upcoming week to regroup after a 'learning lesson' last week. (Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images)

A three-game trip to The Bahamas was supposed to showcase the team that Indiana basketball could be. It did, but painted in a negative light. After a 1-2 trip down south, Indiana is looking at more questions than answers as it returns home.

After two losses to Louisville and Gonzaga, IU finished its trip with a win over Providence. Going into the week with high expectations, Indiana failed to reach any of those. With a non-conference schedule that was riding a lot on the opponents it would play over the three days, the results were nowhere near what were needed.

Now, the Hoosiers return to the floor on Tuesday with just two more games until Big Ten play gets underway next week — and they need to make sure the lessons learned are put on display right away.

“Everything that went wrong, did,” IU head coach Mike Woodson said on Monday. ” … We have to be able to put two halves together. Hopefully it’s a learning lesson.”

Indiana lost by 28 to Louisville and 16 to Gonzaga — a lead that was in the 20s for a large part of the second half. Indiana had faced just one power four team before Atlantis, a 16-point win over South Carolina. But, the competition that IU faced last week was a significant step up. And, it showed that Indiana has a long way to go before reaching the goals it has as a team.

“We gotta play harder, get better,” Woodson said following IU’s win over Providence to wrap up the week. “We’ll continue to practice and work hard and I’ll continue to push them. Gonzaga, there’s a reason why they’re a good team. They’re well coached and those guys play hard. Louisville played hard. We gotta get our guys playing at that level. Because if we do, we can put ourselves in position to beat really good teams.”

It’s a message that continued this week.

“The Bahamas trip has opened our eyes a bit in terms of playing harder as a team,” Woodson stressed again on Monday.

Part of ‘playing harder’ is doing the little things and bringing the mental and physical toughness on the defensive end of the floor. Woodson, who has always hung his hat on the defensive end of the floor. Last week blew that up and showed a lot of cracks.

Opponents averaged 83.7 points per game over the three-game stretch, up from 61.3 in the first four games of the year. Shooting percentages went from 35.4 percent to 48.2 percent, while three-point percentage rose from 27.1 to 33.8 percent.

A 7.7 rebound advantage fell to a 2.7 deficit, including giving up 10 offensive rebounds per game to Louisville, Gonzaga and Providence.

“I think when you get your butt beat like we did for two games you better be connected,” Woodson said after the Providence win. “I still think defensively we gotta clean up some things and we got to rebound the ball better.”

“After a while it comes down to heart and guts,” he added on Monday. “Getting in there and just making sure you get the ball.”

Now at 5-2 and no notable wins on its record, Indiana has an uphill climb to make in order to get its resume back to where it needs to be entering January, and full conference play.

With no other chances in the non-conference to strengthen its case, Indiana needs to turn the corner on this past week quickly in order to take advantage of the games on its upcoming schedule –because there can be no other slip ups in the short term.

It starts with believing in each other and trusting each other.

“I’m just trying to get players to understand team and what it’s about,” Woodson stressed. “You talk about playing good offense, you share the ball, if it calls for you to set a screen you set the screen and you sacrifice for the team. And we haven’t been doing that and it’s my job to get us doing that.”