BASKETBALL

Indiana Basketball shows growth in their win over Providence but still ‘gotta clean up some things’

It was far from perfect, but Indiana basketball had their most complete performance of the season in an 89-73 win over Providence.

Published

5 days ago

November 29, 2024

Drew Rosenberg

Nov 29, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; Indiana Hoosiers forward Mackenzie Mgbako (21) dribbles as Providence Friars guard Wesley Cardet Jr. (0) defends during the second half at Imperial Arena at the Atlantis resort. © Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

It was far from perfect, but Indiana basketball had their most complete performance of the season in an 89-73 win over Providence.

The Hoosiers entered the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament with high expectations and they disappointed in a major way. They came out flat and were exposed in their first two games, losing by 28 to Louisville and 16 to Gonzaga.

Indiana basketball showed some life against Providence in what was a must-win game to make sure they didn’t leave the Bahamas winless.

One obvious difference between their performance today and the last two games was their ball movement. Indiana had 20 assists on 32 made baskets in the win. It was just the second time they reached 20 assists in a game this year.

Woodson shared that he ran more actions to create looks for shooters Mackenzie Mgbako and Luke Goode, but credited the team’s shot-making as the key for the ball movement.

“Everything looks good when you’re making shots. I thought the ball didn’t get stuck and our pick and roll play was pretty good as well as our post play,” Mike Woodson said postgame.

They also had just 10 turnovers in the game which is their lowest total of the season.

While he did not shoot the ball well, Myles Rice played a big role as a passer leading the way with six assists to just two turnovers.

It was a difficult performance from Rice as a scorer this week. Rice shot just 4-25 from the field, but Mike Woodson did not seem worried after the game.

“I’m not concerned, Myles is a tough kid. We’ll get him back. We’ll go home and regroup,” Woodson said postgame. “He’s a major piece to the puzzle.”

Trey Galloway who started in place of an injured Kanaan Carlyle, had his best performance of the season. Galloway scored 18 points while shooting 7-12 from the field and 3-4 from beyond the arc. He also added five rebounds and five assists in a complete performance.

Once again Mackenzie Mgbako was the Hoosiers’ best player today as Providence had no answers for him. Mgbako scored a game-high 25 points while shooting 9-14 from the field and 4-7 from three.

The Friars tried to go to a zone at times, only for Mgbako to bury a contested three to force them out of it. Whether it was tough midrange pull-ups or contested threes, Mgbako was unbothered by the Providence defenders during a dominant display.

“It shows how good we are when we move the ball and touch both sides of the floor,” Mgbako said postgame.

Mgbako was not the only frontcourt player to have a big game as Malik Reneau was a matchup nightmare inside. Reneau finished with 21 points and three assists while shooting 8-9 from the field.

Oumar Ballo also played well for Indiana basketball, scoring eight points but adding 10 rebounds and three blocks in the win.

While Ballo had a dominant defensive showing, the team defense still was lacking for Indiana.

The Hoosiers struggled to force turnovers as Providence had no problems creating open looks. There were instances of Indiana defenders losing their man which in turn led to an open look.

“It just comes down to talking and communicating. I feel like when we communicate and talk on defense the right things happen in the right places,” Mgbako said.

While it was not their best performance defensively, it was still better than the effort shown against Gonzaga and Louisville.

After suffering two blowout losses, the Hoosiers had no choice but to respond and come out with more energy against the Friars.

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

In addition to the defensive issues, the biggest concern of the week was Indiana’s inability to finish stops and secure rebounds.

Indiana allowed 13.7 offensive rebounds a game which led to 15.7 second-chance points per game.

“It’s been a major concern. This dates back to last season where were a pretty big team last season and gave up a bunch of rebounds,” Woodson said. “We gotta get that fixed. That’s major moving forward.”

Indiana has the size and physicality to be a great rebounding team, but the effort does not appear to be there. Consistently guards are leaking out and relying on Ballo and the bigs to win the rebounding battle for them.

It’s the same issues that plagued last year’s team. Despite having one of the biggest lineups in college basketball, Indiana basketball has struggled to finish possessions on the glass.

“After a while, it comes down to heart and just guts,” Woodson said. “Getting in there and making sure you secure the ball after you’ve gotten a good defensive stop.”

Against Providence Luke Goode made his effort known on that end. While he only finished with three rebounds, Goode was consistently crashing the glass hard to help fight for rebounds.

This three-day stretch will likely be the most difficult stretch of the season until March, and it showed. While the opening two games were rough, Indiana basketball showed growth in the final game against Providence.

There are still plenty of improvements that need to be made, but ending the tournament with a win was critical moving forward.

Woodson and Indiana basketball won’t be satisfied, and they shouldn’t be, but they will have an opportunity to learn from this week and grow as a team with two buy games before they open Big Ten play against Minnesota.