‘Eventually, they are going to make them’: Indiana basketball voices hope after shooting just five percent from three in 77-68 victory over Winthrop

Indiana basketball played in its final non-conference game of the season Sunday afternoon, hosting Winthrop. It was the two teams first time facing each other in history.

While Indiana entered the game winning its previous five non conference games, that same success wasn’t fully reflected in the afternoon battle at Assembly Hall.

Indiana took its first lead within the first three minutes of the game, adding to it after Luke Goode knocked down Indiana’s first three point attempt.

While Indiana never lost its early lead, Goode’s three ball went down as the lone made shot for Indiana from three point land.

Indiana shot just 1-of-20 (5.0%) from beyond the arc in the win.

While the poor three point shooting display raises concern, Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson didn’t seem to think negatively on his team’s shooting performance from deep.

“I don’t know. You know, shooting, it’s a funny thing, man,” Woodson said. “They were all good looks. So I can’t sit here and complain that they were bad shots … If they were bad threes, then I would really sit here and complain. But they were good threes, and I feel good about the guys that are shooting them. So again, eventually, they are going to make them.”

Struggles from deep have been an issue all season for Indiana. The team has now shot 24-of-107 (22.4%) across its last five games. In those five games, Indiana has been outscored by 39 points on three pointers.

With today factored in, Indiana is now shooting 30.6% from deep on the season.

Myles Rice has been a big name within Indiana’s three point shooting struggles. The guard has connected for just one three pointer across Indiana’s last four games, shooting 1-for-11 (9.0%) from beyond the arc in that span.

Similar to Woodson’s response, Rice didn’t seem to worry about Indiana’s shooting ability in the win.

“The threes that we got were really good looks,” Rice said. “I think over 75, 80 percent of them were really good looks.”

Rice finished the contest as the games leading scorer with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, 0-of-3 shooting from deep, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 32 minutes.

The performance was Rice’s sixth game this season where he has failed to connect for a single three pointer. He’s shooting 31.4% from long range thus far.

Even with all of the three point misses from the team, Rice still believes the team needs to continue to shoot those types of shots.

“We’ve just got to get over that mental hurdle and keep shooting,” Rice added. “Like I said, we’re getting good shots and I feel comfortable with everybody who took threes tonight, and like I said, it was really good shots. We’ve just got to hit them.”

Following the game, Indiana ranks 16th in the Big Ten conference in three-point percentage, ahead of just Minnesota and Michigan State.

Trey Galloway leads the Hoosiers at 41.4 percent but is making less than one three a game. Mackenzie Mgbako is connecting on 1.9 made 3s a game at 41.2 percent but is just 5-of-19 in the last six games. Luke Goode — a career 38 percent three-point shooter — is a just 30.8 this season while Kanaan Carlyle is 23.1 percent on four attempts a game.

Indiana basketball ranks 353rd nationally in percentage of points from three, per KenPom. It also ranks in the 300s in made 3s per game, attempts per game and three-point percentage.

Indiana has now concluded its non-conference part of the schedule. The team will host Rutgers on Thursday, January 2, at 8:30 PM EST.

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