Key takeaways from the IU basketball 106-64 exhibition win over Marian

IU basketball had its final preseason tuneup on Friday night against Marian before the regular season begins next week. It was a 106-64 win for the Hoosiers.

Indiana was dominant in every phase — as expected.

The Hoosiers take the floor for the first time in the regular season next Wednesday.

Here are the key takeaways from Friday’s IU basketball win.

Bryson Tucker makes his Indiana debut — in a major way: Tucker is someone that Indiana fans had to wait to see in an IU jersey for an extra few days after he missed the Tennessee exhibition. And, he made up for it. Tucker ended with a game-high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting in 23 minutes. Tucker was terrific and every bit of the 5-star freshman he came in as. He started off with a few mid-range jumpers — his bread and butter. That opened up his slashing ability which is a bit underrated. While he still needs to put on some muscle to compete in the Big Ten consistently, he showed a very good variety of moves and finishing ability. While flashy athleticism was never something that stood out initially with Tucker, he showcased the ability to play above the rim on Friday night. Tucker will have his inconsistencies as any freshman does, but he will clearly be a vital player for IU basketball this year and continently see minutes throughout the season.

Pace. Pace. Pace.: Indiana has discussed pushing the pace throughout the offseason and Friday was the first time fans really got the first look at the new style — and it didn’t disappoint. Indiana has numerous players who have the ability to take the rebound and go — a welcomed site that hadn’t been the case in quite some time. Myles Rice sets the tone, but multiple times Oumar Ballo or Malik Reneau would grab and go. Indiana would look to attack and finish at the rim and multiple times it wasn’t shy at firing from deep. On the night, IU finished with 29 fast break points, but it could’ve been much, much more. That’ll come. But, at the end of the day, it was nice to see the talk come to fruition. And, this season will show one thing — Indiana will definitely push the pace.

Three-point shooting still a question: After an 0-of-11 first half and 4-of-19 performance against Tennessee, Indiana did not respond the way you would like from three. On Friday, the Hoosiers were just 6-of-25 and were 1-of-11 in the first half. Luke Goode — who at one point was a combined 0-of-10 combined in the two exhibitions — was 2-of-9 from three on Friday. It was good to finally see some shots go down for the sharpshooter. Outside of Goode, however, it was Mackenzie Mgbako with two and Trey Galloway with one made three. This is still going to be an issue for the Hoosiers throughout the season, it appears. While it shouldn’t be what it was a season ago, there is a lot to still be desired from Indiana three-point shooting ability.

Malik Reneau’s motor: A lot has been made about Malik Reneau and his consistency over the first two years of his career. This year may be the season that things change. Friday night, Reneau was on full display and was all over the court. He finished with 18 points on 9-of-10 from the floor with eight rebounds and five assists. While that’s to be expected against an opponent like Marian, it’s how he produced those numbers that is exciting. Reneau was extremely active on the glass, showing his versatility offensively and even had multiple times bringing the ball up the floor. He was even active without the ball, setting screens and moving hard and aggressive at every moment. If that’s a sign, good things are in store for the junior forward for IU basketball.

Jakai Newton’s return: The redshirt freshman made his Indiana debut on Friday night after redshirting his freshman season — and it was a promising 12 minutes. He had two points, four rebounds and three assists. While the numbers aren’t overly impressive, the fact he was on the floor and made it through a double-digit outing is very promising. Newton was a four-star guard and top-75 player for a reason and Mike Woodson has praised Newton throughout the offseason in regards to his athleticism — while fans didn’t see it on Friday, they at least got their first look at the talented guard.

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