What to watch for in Friday’s exhibition against Marian University

Indiana will play its second and final exhibition contest Friday night against Marian University in Bloomington.

The exhibition is set for a 7 p.m. ET tip on B1G+. Here’s what to watch for on Friday night in Assembly Hall:

Will Indiana shoot better from the perimeter?

Indiana’s 3-point shooting has been the dominant storyline surrounding the program in the preseason. In Sunday’s exhibition win, the Hoosiers attempted 19 3s against Tennessee at the Food City Center in Knoxville.

But it was a tale of two halves as Indiana went 0-for-11 in the opening 20 minutes before settling in and making four of its eight attempts in the second half.

Postgame, Mike Woodson explained that Indiana had been attempting more 3-pointers in its intrasquad scrimmages than it shot against the Volunteers. On Monday’s radio show with Don Fischer, Woodson noted that Tennessee’s defense contributed to IU’s poor 3-point shooting percentage.

“We’ve been shooting 37 percent (on 3s),” Woodson explained. “Tennessee will force you to miss shots based on how they play.”

While Indiana would like to take more 3-pointers this season to become more balanced offensively, the Hoosiers need to shoot a respectable percentage to justify more volume. Friday is the next opportunity for IU to do just that.

Who will be available to play?

Indiana was without three scholarship players in Sunday’s win at Tennessee. Jakai Newton was out with a knee injury, Trey Galloway continues to rehab from offseason knee surgery and Bryson Tucker took a knee to his thigh in a recent practice.

In Woodson’s radio show comments with Fischer, he mentioned Kanaan Carlyle and Anthony Leal were both banged up in the Tennessee game. According to Woodson, Carlyle sat out of Monday’s practice.

With the regular season opener next Wednesday against SIU-Edwardsville, Indiana’s health is one of the biggest storylines surrounding the program.

Woodson said Monday that he hopes Galloway will be in uniform on Friday. However, his tone on Newton was less optimistic. He noted that IU “can’t seem to keep Newton healthy to where he can practice every day.”

The Hoosiers have two games that should be comfortable wins to start the season, but the schedule will quickly heat up in mid-November when South Carolina comes to Assembly Hall.

Getting Kanaan Carlyle more comfortable

Stanford transfer Kanaan Carlyle was one of the most coveted guards in the transfer portal last spring. Carlyle showed off his explosive scoring ability at times last season in the Pac-12 and embraces his role as a defender.

Carlyle, however, had the ball in his hands a lot last season at Stanford and will have to adjust to playing more off the ball this winter with Myles Rice serving as the program’s primary ball handler.

Woodson said earlier in the week that he’s working to get Carlyle more comfortable in his role with the Hoosiers.

In Sunday’s exhibition, Carlyle finished with five points, four assists, three rebounds and two turnovers in 31 minutes.

“I think he’s still trying to find himself. He’s just kinda picking his spots,” Woodson said of Carlyle. I just gotta get him more comfortable. He had a good floor game last night (against Tennessee). He defended his butt off. At the end of the day, he’s capable of having big nights. I just gotta get him comfortable in terms of his role and what’s expected of him because he can really defend the ball and he’s capable of putting the ball in the bucket as well.”

Can IU continue to push the pace while taking care of the ball?

One of the most encouraging stats from Sunday’s exhibition victory was how well the Hoosiers took care of the ball in the second half.

Indiana committed 10 turnovers in a sloppy first half at the Food City Center, including four in its first four possessions of the game.

But the Hoosiers settled in after intermission, committing just three over the final 20 minutes. The performance by Myles Rice was especially impressive. Rice played 31 minutes and didn’t turn it over once despite attacking off the dribble relentlessly.

Since taking over in 2021, Woodson has stated he wants to see 12 or fewer turnovers per game. Indiana finished with 13 turnovers on Sunday against a program ranked in the top five of KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency rankings for the past four seasons.

If Indiana can continue pushing the ball in transition while limiting its mistakes, the offense should be much better than last winter. IU’s 18 fast break points against Tennessee were a solid start and something to build on.

More opportunity for the bench

Sunday’s exhibition was tight throughout and Indiana played all of its starters 30 or more minutes.

That’s unlikely to be the case on Friday against Marian, which should give some key reserves a chance to log more minutes.

While the status of Galloway, Tucker and Newton remains up in the air, Friday should provide the opportunity for Luke Goode to rebound from Sunday’s 0-for-5 shooting performance.

Langdon Hatton gave the Hoosiers six solid minutes in Knoxville, but he wasn’t able to capitalize on two point-blank shots. Gabe Cupps looked more confident and aggressive off the dribble and was the only Hoosier to score off the bench in 10 minutes at Tennessee. Leal played six minutes against Tennessee and had a steal while missing his only shot.

On Friday, look for Indiana to go to its bench more and to experiment with lineups more than it did on Sunday afternoon.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

Category: Commentary

Filed to: Marian University Knights