Key takeaways from the Indiana basketball 76-57 win over Miami (OH)

Indiana basketball returned to action on Friday night and took down Miami (OH), 76-57 to improve to 7-2 on the season.

It was not the cleanest performance for the Hoosiers who led by just three at the half, but they were able to get the win in their last game before they begin Big Ten play next week.

Here are the key takeaways from IU’s win.

Trey Galloway should start moving forward:

Trey Galloway started 56 of 63 total games over the last two seasons but was relegated to the bench with the additions of Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle starting at the guard spots. A part of the reason for Galloway moving to the bench could be his injury recovery after offseason surgery. With Carlyle missing the last three games with an injury of his own, it has put Galloway back into the starting lineup and he has shown he should continue to start. It looks like Galloway has improved his jump shot from a year ago and that combined with the playmaking abilities he brings to the table has helped him come out to a strong start to the season. Galloway scored 13 points and added two assists along with a block and a steal in another strong performance as a starter.

Oumar Ballo’s clean-up role:

Oumar Ballo makes up for and hides a ton of shortcomings on the defensive end for Indiana Basketball. The 7-foot-0, 265-pound center’s physical presence sets the tone on the interior and disrupts anything that comes his way. The Hoosiers are not a good rebounding team, but it would be significantly worse without Ballo. Ballo had his best performance of the season as he finished the game with 14 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal and two blocks. A lot of the problems have to do with a lack of effort and guys leaking out in transition instead of crashing the glass, but Ballo’s ability to grab contested rebounds helps hide those problems in part. When Ballo is not in the game, teams are more willing to attack the rim against the Hoosiers. His presence changes how teams attack the Indiana defense. If this team is going to reach its ceiling, Ballo is going to need more help from the rest of his team on the defensive end.

Stretch bigs could be a problem:

The defensive issues that have haunted Indiana basketball have been fairly consistent this season. It’s revolved around defensive rebounding, guarding the perimeter, and rotations/communication. Facing a stretch big could expose these problems even more and Miami showed that. Backup big Reese Potter’s first-half performance showed the type of problem a stretch big could provide. With Ballo covering Potter on the perimeter, it opened up the paint which allowed Miami to the Hoosier defense with backdoor cuts and straight-line drives to the rim. Miami also was able to attack the offensive glass more with Ballo outside of the paint. The other problem came when the RedHawks forced Ballo to guard the pick and roll in space. Ballo’s strength and size are what make him a special player, but in space, he can’t use those traits which is why Miami tried to keep him in space when guarding the pick-and-roll. While Ballo and the Hoosiers struggled defensively against the stretch big, he abused Potter on the other end of the floor causing him to foul out after just 18 minutes of action. While Potter provided no trouble in the second half, a stretch big like Michigan’s Danny Wolf could cause problems for Indiana Basketball.

The Turnover Problem:

Indiana basketball has a real turnover issue. The biggest problem is not just that the Hoosiers are turning the basketball over, it’s the way they are doing it. The turnovers have been unforced and simple mistakes that good teams don’t make. Whether it’s trying to force a pass into traffic, taking an extra step on a catch-and-shoot opportunity, or simply not catching a pass, Indiana basketball is beating itself on offense. The Hoosiers are averaging 13.9 turnovers per game on the season which is not good enough, especially as they head into the start of Big Ten play on Monday. The combination of the turnovers and offensive rebounds allowed led to Miami getting an extra 13 shot attempts. Indiana basketball can survive these mishaps in non-conference buy games, but against a good opponent, the extra possessions they allow will cost them as we saw in their two losses in the Bahamas.

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