At the Buzzer: Indiana 87, Little Rock 68

Quick thoughts on an 87-68 win against Little Rock:

How it happened

With just 10 scholarship players available, it was an interesting first half for Indiana on Wednesday night. The Hoosiers inserted Malik Reneau in the starting lineup in place of Trayce Jackson-Davis, who sat out for precautionary reasons. Early on, it looked like Indiana would have no issue taking care of business against an OVC opponent.

But Little Rock didn’t go away quietly. The Trojans were physical, scrappy and were within seven at 37-30 with under two minutes left in the first half. The Hoosiers settled for a nine-point halftime cushion despite making only one 3-pointer in the first 20 minutes. Reneau was a big reason for the lead, as the freshman had 10 points and four rebounds in 14 minutes.

Little Rock cut IU’s lead to six at 39-34, but the Hoosiers pushed it back to nine on a Miller Kopp triple with 18:29 to play. The Trojans, however, kept the pressure on. At the under 16 media timeout, Indiana’s lead was just 46-40. The Hoosiers were into the bonus at the 15:09 mark of the second half and another Kopp 3-pointer stretched the lead to 13 with 13:42 to play. After a Little Rock 3, Kopp splashed in another triple with 13:13 to play.

Indiana’s lead hit 15 at 60-45, but Little Rock stormed right back to make it 64-57 with 9:04 to go. Over the next 79 seconds, Indiana got a 3-pointer from Jordan Geronimo, a layup from Tamar Bates and another 3-pointer from Xavier Johnson to push the lead back to 15 at 72-57. Little Rock never got closer than xx the rest of the way.

Standout performers

It was a strong performance for Race Thompson, who finished with a team-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 30 minutes. Geronimo also deserves a nod for his play off the bench. The third-year forward finished with 11 points, tw0 rebounds and five blocked shots in 17 minutes. Johnson played an excellent second half and finished with 10 assists.