‘We just gotta get a little tougher’: Indiana Basketball was ’embarrassed’ by Louisville in the opening game of Battle 4 Atlantis

Indiana basketball was completely outclassed by Louisville in the opening game of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. The Cardinals ran the Hoosiers off the court, winning the game 89-61.

With a weak non-conference schedule, Indiana basketball entered this tournament knowing how important these three games would be. Setting the tone with a win would not only give them a strong resume-building win but also would allow them to add potentially one or two more quality opponents to their resume.

With a chance to earn a statement win and set the tone for the rest of the tournament, Indiana basketball came out lacking energy and was ’embarrassed’ against Louisville.

“I thought they came out at the very beginning and they punched us and we didn’t respond,” Mike Woodson said postgame. It didn’t get better throughout the ball game. As a coach, I have to get this team more ready to go.”

Louisville came out quickly and took advantage of Indiana’s early sloppiness. The Hoosiers had 11 first-half turnovers and it led to an early 10-point lead for Louisville that was cut to eight at the half.

From there it only got worse as Indiana continued to struggle to take care of the basketball and the eight-point deficit grew to as high as 38.

Going back to last season Indiana basketball has struggled in neutral site games against top competition. With this game included, Indiana has now lost their last four neutral site games all by at least 20 points.

The turnovers were the main issue as Louisville sped Indiana’s guards up and forced them into trouble.

“Offensively we had nothing from a perimeter standpoint. They had a lot to do with that with their physicality,” Woodson said. “We can’t complain and not play through it. We just gotta get a little tougher.”

Wisconsin transfer Chucky Hepburn was the main problem as his physicality took Indiana’s guards out of the game. Hepburn led the way for Louisville with 16 points and 10 assists, while also adding seven steals.

Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle combined to shoot 1-13 with just two assists and seven turnovers. As a team, the Hoosiers had just 12 assists compared to 23 turnovers.

Outside of Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo, Indiana had nothing offensively. The front-court tandem combined to score 32 points while shooting 12-20 (60.0%) from the floor. The rest of the team combined to shoot 9-43 (20.9%) from the field.

As bad as the offensive performance was, Indiana was not much better defensively.

“We didn’t execute the game plan that coach Woodson had, especially on the defensive end,” Reneau said postgame. “It was a lack of focus to the scout we had and not giving it our all when we were on the court.”

The turnovers and poor shooting were all concerning, but the biggest problem might have been the lack of effort. Louisville seemed to want it more, consistently winning 50/50 balls and making the right plays time and time again.

“We had nothing for Louisville. You just have to give them credit because they played extremely well. We gotta somehow go back and regroup,” Woodson said.

Going back to last year it has been much of the same issues plaguing Indiana basketball. Even with the influx of talent this offseason, the poor play of the guards and the lack of three-point shooting have both been consistent themes for Indiana.

The lack of flow on offense is clear as Indiana relies on their players to create for themselves and struggles to execute sets. Louisville had no issues executing and this was clear during a sequence early in the second half.

Coming out of a timeout with 15:35 remaining, Indiana trailed by 15. Out of the timeout Louisville coach Pat Kelsey drew up an out-of-bounds play that led to a wide-open three for Reyne Smith. On the ensuing possession, Indiana threw the ball away while trying to execute a play out of the timeout.

Coming out of a timeout is when most teams are able to generate their best looks and Louisville showcased that during the sequence. Not being able to generate any look much less an open one of a timeout is a concerning sign for Indiana basketball moving forward.

“I’m not gonna let us forget this game because this was embarrassing,” Woodson said.

Woodson and his staff will have to make their adjustments quickly as they will be back in action tomorrow. If Indiana has a similar performance to this one, the result will likely be the same if not worse.

While their hopes of winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament are dead, Indiana basketball still has plenty to play for with two key non-conference games remaining this week and quality performances in those games will go a long way come March.

SEE ALSO: Key takeaways from the 89-61 loss for Indiana basketball against Louisville

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