Season 125 is underway. And Indiana quickly learned it has a long way to go if it wants to live up to the high expectations surrounding Mike Woodson’s fourth season.
The Hoosiers raced out to an early 11-point lead only to see SIUE tie the game at 27 with just under five minutes left in the first half. They managed to get the lead back to 12 at halftime, but couldn’t extend beyond a 14-point edge until under the eight minute mark of the second half.
Let’s take a deeper look at how IU won 80-61 with our first edition of The Report Card.
Indiana (1-0) will next host Eastern Illinois for a Sunday afternoon contest.
COACHING (C)
If you were expecting a sea change out of the gate, you probably walked away from this one disappointed.
Mike Woodson clearly still has work to do when it comes to getting his players to understand their shortcomings. The film from this game should help. Two coachable aspects of the contest that stood out — there was a lack of effort on the glass, and poor decision making that led to turnovers.
Beyond guards pushing the pace in transition, Indiana doesn’t appear to have a meaningfully different offense to this point. There were some smaller lineups that featured new concepts, but when Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo were on the court together, the offense appeared to be post-centric, lacked spacing, and seems unlikely to result in a high volume of three-point attempts.
Indiana did appear to try a number of unique lineup combinations, and it’s too soon to tell if these will become a pattern or just early season tinkering. And Woodson might be limited somewhat due to Trey Galloway, who looked sharp, still being on a minutes restriction.
If the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s NET ranking formula continues to center on exceeding expectations against each opponent, then the staff is going to have to learn how to get this team to play the full 40 minutes.
OFFENSE (C)
Indiana scored 1.1 points per possession with an effective field goal percentage of 57.9%. Those are respectable figures, if not earth-shattering against a team the caliber of SIUE.
Turnovers were one of the more significant issues. IU had 16 of them, for a 22% turnover rate. Starters Myles Rice and Oumar Ballo particularly struggled, with five and four apiece, although both improved in the second half.
But as mentioned above, the biggest long-term concern might have been a halfcourt offense that lacked imagination, and didn’t seem much different than what we’ve seen in years past. At times there wasn’t good ball movement, and there wasn’t much in the way of movement off the ball.
“We were stagnant early on and throughout the game. We needed to move in a pace that we’ve been doing in practice,” Galloway said.
There were good moments. Galloway got in rhythm with Ballo in a two-man game attacking the paint. And Mackenzie Mgbako shot the lights out.
But there’s still a long way to go here.
Woodson was asked what he thought the team’s offensive identity was.
“Don’t know. Still searching,” Woodson said. “I do know we can score the basketball. Certain guys haven’t really made shots like I thought they would. They’ll start falling eventually.”
DEFENSE (C)
Indiana forced SIUE leading scorer Ray’Sean Taylor into an inefficient night. He needed 22 shots (7-of-22) to score 17 points. Several players contributed to slowing him down.
The glaring red flag here was Indiana allowing far too many offensive rebounds to a low-major opponent. 16 offensive rebounds would have been concerning against a team of any caliber, but it cannot happen against a team from the Ohio Valley Conference, even if the Cougars do have relatively good size for a team from their level.
This wasn’t about size, it was about effort and attention to detail. And Indiana lagged in both measures when it came to hitting the boards. SIUE only scored 48 points on their initial possessions on Wednesday evening, but they added another 13 on second chances. Against a better opponent, that could end up being the difference between winning and losing.
In the end, SIUE couldn’t capitalize enough. They shot just 35.2% including just 19.2% from three. Indiana’s perimeter defense was pretty good, and played a role in keeping those numbers down.
MORE GAME COVERAGE
THE PLAYERS
Mackenzie Mgbako (A) It was a career night for the sophomore forward. His 31-point outing was the best scoring output by an IU player in a season opener since Eric Gordon in 2007, and the most points he has scored at Indiana. And Mgbako led IU with nine rebounds, and seemed to be locked in on the defensive end.
Malik Reneau (B) Reneau was a carbon copy of the player we’ve come to know. Tough, sturdy, reliable, and efficient offensively. His evolution into a true four is still a work in process on both ends. And after not fouling in the first half, Reneau was whistled for four in a 15 minute span of the second.
Oumar Ballo (C) Ballo’s energy level seemed off all night. And he didn’t have the kind of physically dominant effort you’d expect from a man of his size against a low-major. Yes he scored 15, but six came in the last two minutes. Just six rebounds in 28 minutes isn’t nearly enough. And Ballo was careless with the ball, committing four turnovers.
Myles Rice (C) It was a tale of two halves for Rice, who struggled in the first but played at a high level in the second. That was encouraging. Rice’s five turnovers were largely just the result of him dribbling carelessly into traffic. His seven point (on three shots), two assist, one turnover second half was more in line with what the Hoosiers need.
Kanaan Carlyle (C-) Perhaps it is because he’s been limited in practice due to a rib injury, but Carlyle doesn’t look confident on the offensive end. He’ll have to figure that out, because IU won’t get away with zero points from their starting two against better opponents. The sophomore guard did play good defense, and he added an impressive six rebounds from his guard spot.
Trey Galloway (B+) This was an encouraging effort by the fifth-year guard. Galloway played just 17 minutes but was extremely efficient, racking up six points and a game high nine assists. IU was +17 when he was on the court. There were times when it looked like he was still adjusting to game speed after offseason knee surgery, but Galloway is off to a good start.
Bryson Tucker (C) The bright lights may have gotten to the true freshman in game one. He didn’t look nearly as confident as he did in the Marian scrimmage. But there’s a long way to go here, and Tucker has a very promising future.
Luke Goode (D) The shooting struggles continue for the Illinois transfer. Goode was brought to IU to make shots, and he’s off to a slow start. He has made just 2-of-17 shots including both exhibitions. It goes without saying those numbers won’t cut it.
Gabe Cupps and Langdon Hatton saw limited action.
Jakai Newton and Dallas James did not play, coach’s decision.
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Anthony Leal was out with an injury.
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