Five takeaways from Indiana’s exhibition win at Tennessee
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Indiana went on the road Sunday afternoon and beat Tennessee 66-62 in a charity exhibition at the Food City Center.
Here are five takeaways from the win against the Volunteers:
Myles Rice shines in road victory
Myles Rice was considered one of the top available guards in the transfer portal last spring. His performance on Sunday showed exactly why.
Rice outplayed the SEC defensive player of the year Zakai Zeigler and scored 20 points while shooting an efficient 7-for-14 from the field. His ability to change speeds, get into the lane and finish plays at the rim stood out.
The 6-foot-3 guard got to the free-throw line eight times and made six attempts. In addition, Rice dished out four assists, had two steals and didn’t have a turnover in 31 minutes.
Indiana was +12 with Rice, a redshirt sophomore, on the floor.
Malik Reneau’s 10-0 run proves to be the difference
The Hoosiers trailed 54-50 with 8:58 remaining following a pair of free throws by Zeigler.
But Indiana’s Malik Reneau went on a 10-0 scoring run from the 6:54 mark to the 4:17 mark, which proved to be the difference.
After sinking two free throws with 6:54 left, Reneau buried a 3-pointer to give Indiana the lead at 55-54 with 6:21 to play. He made another jumper with 5:47 left to stretch the lead to 57-54. Reneau capped off the run with a 3-point play at the 4:17 mark to give IU a six-point cushion at 60-54.
Reneau finished with a team-high 21 points. He added eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and a blocked shot in 32 minutes. He also drew six fouls.
“I started to catch a groove when I came back off the bench,” Reneau said. “I was able to give a spark for our team and then the guys just came along with me.”
Indiana’s defense locked Tennessee down late
The Volunteers came out hot in the second half and built a six-point lead at 52-46 at the 10:04 mark.
But Indiana was able to get stops when it mattered in a tough road environment with over 13,000 fans in attendance.
Tennessee closed the game by missing 10 of its last 11 field goal attempts. The Vols didn’t have a field goal over the game’s final 3:50.
Mike Woodson was encouraged by Indiana’s ability to close out the win – even in an exhibition game – by making plays on both ends down the stretch.
“It’s huge because we’re up six and they hit a big 3,” Woodson explained. “It was back-and-forth. It’s huge. When you’re on the road, I don’t care how you win, you gotta figure it out. And I thought tonight we did coming down the stretch.”
Indiana attempted 19 3-pointers
Woodson has talked in the preseason about his desire for the Hoosiers to attempt more 3-pointers.
Last season, Indiana’s 3-point rate (3PA/FGA) of 27.8 percent ranked 351st nationally. On Sunday, the Hoosiers attempted 19 3s and had a 3-point rate of 31.6 percent.
While it was a modest increase, Indiana didn’t capitalize on the increased volume, making just four of their triples. All of the makes came in the second half.
Woodson, however, explained postgame that Indiana actually attempted less 3s against Tennessee than they have in recent intrasquad scrimmages.
“We got some good looks. Our guys are just going to have to relax because we’re going to shoot them,” Woodson said. “There’s no doubt. We got 19 up, but we have been averaging about 27 or 28 in all of our scrimmages. That’s far from where we’ve been the past three years.
“But again, I don’t care how many 3s you shoot, you gotta make ’em. That’s the name of the game. And I think we got guys that can make ’em, I just gotta get them comfortable, get them loose and shoot ’em.”
Woodson would like to host Tennessee in a return exhibition next season
Sunday’s exhibition doesn’t count on the win-loss record but Woodson is hopeful the experience playing against a ranked team on the road will pay dividends once the Hoosiers travel in Big Ten play this season.
“I hope it pays off big time for us,” IU’s fourth-year coach said. “You can learn a lot from a game like this.”
Woodson is also hopeful the trip to Tennessee could yield a return trip for Indiana to host the Volunteers next fall in Bloomington.
“I told coach (Barnes) if he wants to come to our place next year because I like competition like that,” Woodson said. “These guys have been beating up on each other but not like this. This team physically got after us tonight.”
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Malik Reneau, Myles Rice, Tennessee Volunteers