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    Thursday, January 2

    IU basketball: Winthrop at Indiana — The report card

    Mike SchumannBy IU Basketball 159 Comments
    Photo - IU Athletics

    Indiana did nothing to quiet the critics on Sunday against Winthrop.

    The Hoosiers took multiple eight point leads in the first half.  13-5, and then again at 30-22.  But as we’ve seen regularly this year, they couldn’t pull away and stay away.  It was a four point IU advantage at the break, and after a couple more eight and nine-point leads, an 8-0 Winthrop run had the margin at 69-68 Indiana with 3:16 left.  And that was immediately met by an 8-0 IU run to end it.

    Let’s take a deeper look at how IU won 77-68 with our latest edition of The Report Card.

    Indiana (10-3, 1-1) will have turn their attention back full time to the Big Ten when they host Rutgers on Thursday.

    COACHING (C+)

    Mike Woodson was dealt with some measure of uncertainty in the hours leading up to the game as it related to the availability of starting center Oumar Ballo.  He made the choice to run with a smaller lineup, which seemed prudent.  And Woodson further had to navigate foul trouble for Malik Reneau.  Was he benched too much, playing only 14 minutes?  That’s debatable.

    When it comes to three-point shooting, Woodson often says his team got good looks but didn’t make them.  It’s hard to argue with that view against Winthrop.  If IU had made even a modest 6-of-20 from three this game would not have been close.

    And for whatever shortcoming throughout the game, credit Woodson in part for an 8-0 run to close it out.

    OFFENSE (C)

    If a team manufactures a way to score 77 points while shooting just 1-of-20 from three on generally good looks, they must be doing something right.  Right?

    The free throw shooting (16-of-24, 66.7%) wasn’t great either, so just the offense being run that generated the shots and free throws must have been pretty good.  Oh, and IU had just eight turnovers.  So they maximized their chances too.

    The saving grace was a 29-of-46 effort from two (63%) despite having Reneau for just 14 minutes, and Ballo not at all.  And IU was effective on the offensive glass as well.  As they’ve experienced plenty, missed threes lead to long rebounds.  And the Hoosiers grabbed 14 of their own missed shots and scored 16 points off those extra opportunities.

    Plagued by their poor three-point shooting, Indiana scored 1.07 points per possession.  That’s only enough to keep things uncomfortably close.

    DEFENSE (C)

    Winthrop came in averaging 86 a game, so IU held them well under their average.  Although to be sure, the Eagles scored more points in this game than what they generated against any of their three previous high major opponents.

    There were stretches once again when Winthrop was able to generate too many open threes.  But there were more open looks in the first half than the second, and the Eagles made just 2-of-9 after the break from deep.  They’re not a good perimeter shooting team either, so that helped.

    The Eagles like to push the pace and attack the rim in transition to get layups or free throws.  And they did get 15 fast break points and 20 attempts at the stripe.  But considering that is Winthrop’s playing style, things never got too carried away.

    Winthrop scored .945 points per possession.  That’s certainly not a lockdown effort by IU, but they’ll win most games at that level.  There was nothing exceptional about this defensive performance from the Hoosiers, but it was good enough.

    MORE GAME COVERAGE

    THE PLAYERS (*starters)

    *Mackenzie Mgbako (C) Obviously an 0-for-5 game from three is not what he’s looking for, and he compounded things with a couple turnovers.  But Mgbako had four assists, and there was a stretch in the second half when he made several defensive plays in a row, with a steal, a tie-up and a block.

    *Malik Reneau (C) With Ballo out, this was a game when Reneau could not afford foul trouble.  And he spent most of the game in it.  His 14 points in 14 minutes highlight how important his presence on the court was, but Indiana didn’t get nearly enough of that presence.

    *Myles Rice (B) Rice’s ability to get to the rim was a difference making factor in this game, as were his three steals.  He didn’t make threes and had some turnovers, factors that kept this from being an elite effort that he’s capable of.  Rice attacking the paint is something this team needs more of going forward.

    *Trey Galloway (B) The fifth-year had several nifty passes in a four assist second half.  Like Rice, Galloway couldn’t connect from three, and free throw challenges from last season reappeared.  But you’ll take an 11 point, five assist, no turnover game any day.

    *Luke Goode (D) You don’t want to focus solely on Goode’s 1-of-9 day from three, but it’s such a critical part of what he brings to the offense, that you do have to give that extra significance.  There’s no doubting his effort, but there’s also no doubt he has to find far more consistency from deep.

    Kanaan Carlyle (D) This was a game that called for aggressively attacking Winthrop’s pressure defense, and Carlyle didn’t look ready to do that.  He didn’t appear to be confident.  He didn’t have an impact.

    Bryson Tucker (B-) Tucker continues to be a valuable scorer off the bench.  And with Ballo out and Reneau limited, extra scoring production was certainly needed.  We’ll continue to say he’s a reliable three-point shot from being a star.

    Anthony Leal (C) Leal continues to be a trusted defensive option off the bench.

    Langdon Hatton (A) Hatton is on the team for moments like these.  He gave high level effort, while battling his own foul trouble.  IU probably doesn’t pull this out without his positive minutes.  “I thought he played his butt off. Gave him the game ball,” Woodson said.

    Dallas James did not play, coach’s decision.

    ————————

    Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton are out long-term with injuries.

    The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

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