Indiana’s start against Auburn had all the good feels.
After making four threes in the first 3:47 of the game, it appeared this might be a breakout performance by the IU offense.
But things unraveled quickly at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. And as we’ll examine below, that started during a four minute stretch when the Hoosiers turned to their bench.
We start the analysis with IU up 22-10 with 12:54 remaining in the first half.
It was precisely at this point Mike Woodson took Kel’el Ware and Mackenzie Mgbako both out of the game. Woodson had already pulled Trey Galloway from the game, so he’s going with three bench players now. It’s worth noting that to this point in the game, Ware and Mgbako had scored 15 of Indiana’s 22 points. But they both come out, along with IU’s best playmaking guard and best perimeter defender in Galloway.
Auburn’s start of a massive 42-12 close to the first half could have been written off easily enough. Jaylin Williams is a 6-foot-8, 245 pound power forward, so not a terrible matchup for Malik Reneau. But Williams is respectable perimeter shooter, and guarding the arc is not a strength of Reneau.
Williams makes a good move and hits a tough shot. IU is still up nine. Tip your cap. But perhaps Kaleb Banks or Mackenzie Mgbako playing the four here could have provided a better defensive effort.
This next sequence really got Auburn rolling, and further highlights why a different substitution pattern probably made more sense, especially against the quick and athletic Tigers.
Instead of leaving Mgbako in the game and moving him to the four, or moving Banks to the four, Woodson chose to put Payton Sparks at center and keep Reneau at power forward. That didn’t go well on the three by Auburn we just watched, and on Indiana’s next possession, Indiana’s offense stagnates and results in a long three by Reneau with 11 seconds still on the shot clock.
Query whether a better solution would have been to have Reneau playing the five during this stretch, and this shot being taken by Mgbako? Both of Reneau and Mgbako’s optimal positions appear to be the five and four, respectively, but Indiana chose to not go that route — even in small spurts.
The results here were disastrous, as Reneau misses badly, and that results in an Auburn push going the other way. Indiana was disorganized with their transition defense, ended up being late getting to a shooter, and a 12-point lead is six in less than a minute.
If you watch closely, Reneau got beat up the court, forcing Gabe Cupps to help at the rim just enough to leave the shooter open.
C.J. Gunn had some really good defensive moments at Michigan, but that didn’t translate on Saturday.
Here Gunn was isolated by Auburn on a baseline out-of-bounds play, and he got beat by a back cut with no help behind him. This is both poor awareness by Gunn, and poor communication by both his teammates and the IU bench. One way or another, Gunn needed to know he was on an island with no one to cover a cut to the rim.
This is an especially bad look coming out of a media timeout, when IU had ample time to prepare. The run extends to 8-0.
As we approach the nine minute mark, IU is still up two (in a game they’d later trail by 30).
But Gunn takes a poor shot early in the shot clock. This is a shot you’d love to get from Gunn in the final seconds of the shot clock as a possession breaks down. But there’s no reason to force it here, and it leads to another Auburn transition push.
Mgbako doesn’t sprint back, which leads to an open three. Auburn missed that but was able to get an offensive rebound from it — and that led to Galloway’s second foul — a major turning point in the game.
Indiana came back in with their starters after this point, except for Galloway, who Woodson chose to keep on the bench with two fouls for the last nine minutes of the first half. That was a questionable decision, as Galloway’s strengths are attacking off the bounce and guarding the perimeter — two things IU desperately needed against Auburn as things unraveled.
And it was as if Kel’el Ware, Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako stepped into a hornet’s nest after their rest on the bench. Auburn was the aggressor, and the Hoosiers were a step slower and on their heels.
The Tigers maintained the momentum and closed the last nine minutes on a 28-8 run.
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