A pair of veteran Indiana natives made major contributions off the bench on Tuesday evening.
Indiana was sluggish out of the gate against Sam Houston, scoring just seven points in the first seven minutes. But a 29-5 first half run fueled by the bench helped give the Hoosiers a cushion. The Bearkats pulled back to within 13 late in the first half, and got to within nine early in the second at 48-39. But the Indiana bench came through again, delivering an extended 35-19 stretch that helped the home team pull away for good.
Let’s take a deeper look at how IU won 97-71 with our latest edition of The Report Card.
Indiana (6-2) will next host Miami (Ohio) on Friday evening in Bloomington.
COACHING (B)
While he isn’t one to change his starting lineup, Mike Woodson clearly made some in-game adjustments. He recognized his two big lineup was a liability and he got away from it in the second half. Oumar Ballo only played six minutes after the break, and there was very little overlap with him and Malik Reneau in the second half after the first few minutes. IU was able to pull away once that change was made.
There also pretty clearly were adjustments made on the defensive end to emphasize taking away the three-point shot. It isn’t clear if this was one-time game-planning or a systemic change, but IU stayed with shooters rather than their usual help principles. That led to some open driving lanes, but IU never suffered a barrage of makes from three against a good perimeter shooting team.
OFFENSE (B+)
We won’t go overboard here as Sam Houston isn’t a good defensive team.
But Indiana was highly efficient on the offensive end, posting 1.26 points per possession on a season-best 68.2 effective field goal percentage. The Hoosiers shot 67.5% from two and 46.7% from three.
And the Hoosiers were able to get to the foul line with regularity, and they continue to convert at the stripe. Part of the reason why the Hoosiers drew fouls was because the floor was generally spaced to allow driving lanes, and there was movement off the ball that forced the defense to react.
The offense wasn’t as good when Indiana went with it’s two big lineup that featured Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau.
“We definitely got to work on the two-big lineup for sure,” Reneau said. “When there is one big out there it flows better, more space out there for shooters and open up the floor.”
DEFENSE (C)
As has been the case for most of the season, Indiana wasn’t able to sustain high-level defensive play for 40 minutes. Sam Houston shot just 25.8% in the first half, but made 60% of their attempts in the second.
Indiana allowed .92 points per possession for the game. That’s not an awful number but the most they’ve allowed against any of their four non-high major opponents so far this season. Two major reasons why — the Hoosiers fouled too much and didn’t force turnovers. Moreover, IU was slow to get back in transition on a few occasions.
With Kanaan Carlyle out and Trey Galloway ineffective, Woodson used more lineups with Anthony Leal and Luke Goode. The pair did a good job running shooters off the arc, but that duo does leave IU a bit more exposed on straight line drives to the rim, and everything that results from those drives.
Sam Houston’s offensive rebounding rate of 12.8% was a season-best for Indiana by nearly six percentage points, and the Bearkats came into the game as a good offensive rebounding team.
MORE GAME COVERAGE
- Luke Goode and IU’s bench delivered against Sam Houston State
- Watch: IU basketball’s Woodson, Goode and Reneau discuss win over Sam Houston
- IU basketball: Indiana 97 Sam Houston 71 — Three keys, highlights, final stats
THE PLAYERS (*starters)
*Mackenzie Mgbako (C+) Not a great perimeter shooting night, and Mgbako had some defensive struggles. But if this is an off night for the sophomore forward, you take it. He tends to try to force his shot when in the paint and surrounded by a crowd of defenders.
*Malik Reneau (A-) The headline number was double digit rebounds, a mark he hit for just the third time in his career, but second time this season. If Indiana is going to be able to play smaller lineups, Reneau needs to rebound better, and he did it. Reneau was an efficient scorer and added five assists and three steals.
*Oumar Ballo (C-) The big man didn’t bring consistent effort. At times he is too slow protecting the rim and helping off the ball. He does work hard to seal his man and create easy scoring opportunities, and his seven rebounds in 19 minutes is a pretty good rate.
*Myles Rice (B) This was a step in the right direction after a rough week in The Bahamas. If there’s one player on this team Indiana needs to be consistent, it’s Rice. He had a particularly good second half, with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting to go with three assists and no turnovers.
*Trey Galloway (D) It almost seems like Galloway is still having good days and bad days with his recovery from knee surgery. Because he is very inconsistent. The fifth-year looked nothing like the player who dominated against Providence.
Bryson Tucker (B) The freshman brought energy and effort off the bench, got to his spots and on offense, and drew fouls. He played a clean, smart game on both ends.
Luke Goode (A-) Everyone knows Goode’s fortunes will rise and fall with his shooting. And you can’t expect 5-of-7 from three every night. But this game serves as a reminder of just how high impact Goode can be when he gets on a roll. He changed the game with his first half shooting display.
Anthony Leal (A-) How does Leal go from playing five minutes all season to 25 on this night, and how under those circumstances was he ready to play so well? IU had injuries so he probably knew the minutes were coming, but Leal led the team in plus/minus with a +39 evening. His four rebounds, four assists, two steals and no turnovers tell the story.
Langdon Hatton and Jakai Newton saw limited minutes.
Dallas James did not play, coach’s decision.
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Gabe Cupps and Kanaan Carlyle were out with injuries
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