Five takeaways from Indiana’s win against UNC Greensboro
Indiana improved to 4-0 with a 69-58 win against UNC Greensboro on Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Here are five takeaways from the win against the Spartans:
Indiana won, but the Hoosiers shouldn’t feel good about the performance
After winning its first three games by at least 16 points, Indiana had a closer-than-expected 11-point win on Thursday night.
The Hoosiers started with a commanding 21-5 lead and were outscored 53-48 over the final 30-plus minutes.
Indiana’s offense stalled when Myles Rice went to the bench in the first half and never returned to its early game form the rest of the evening.
The ball movement and passing were poor and the Hoosiers struggled with 3-point shooting, finishing just 5-for-19 (26.3 percent).
The result was a postgame in which Mike Woodson was unhappy with his team and the players were not made available to the media to discuss the poor performance.
Indiana now has a few days to prepare in Bloomington before it departs for the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, which begins with a noon ET tipoff on Wednesday against Louisville.
“We’ve got to go and clean this game up before I start thinking about the Bahamas,” Woodson said postgame. “Louisville is the first game, but we’ve got to clean this game up and have a tough practice tomorrow, get ready for Louisville that way. But we’ve got to figure out this game and all the things we did wrong and didn’t do.”
Indiana’s defensive rebounding has the same issues as a season ago
The Hoosiers have one of the most physically imposing frontlines in the Big Ten.
It hasn’t mattered thus far on the glass. Through four games, Indiana allows its opponents to grab 30.3 percent of its missed shots, ranking 201st in the country.
On Thursday, UNC Greensboro corralled 17 offensive rebounds. Fortunately for IU, the Spartans could only turn those second-chance opportunities into 10 points.
Attention to detail and fundamentals are lacking on the glass. As pointed out repeatedly by Robbie Hummel on the broadcast, Indiana isn’t doing a good enough job of finding the opposition and blocking out on the glass.
UNC Greensboro’s Jalen Breath, a 6-foot-8 center, grabbed five offensive rebounds. Against better competition, failing to clean up the defensive glass will prove costly for Indiana.
Indiana’s 3-point volume hasn’t increased by a significant amount
Woodson repeatedly stressed in the preseason that Indiana would take more 3-pointers this season.
The 3-point volume hasn’t changed much through four games since last season.
Last season, 27.8 percent of Indiana’s field goal attempts were 3-pointers, ranking 351st in the country. This season, 30.4 percent of IU’s field goal attempts have been 3-pointers, ranking 337th in the country.
On average, Indiana is taking 17.5 3-pointers per game so far.
That’s a number too low in modern college basketball.
Bryson Tucker shines in the second half
Freshman McDonald’s All-American Bryson Tucker has shown no fear coming off the bench early in his career.
Tucker has been assertive offensively and hasn’t hesitated to look for his offensive immediately after entering the game.
In Thursday’s win, the 6-foot-7 wing scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half. The majority of his buckets came in the midrange, where he continues to excel.
Through four games, Tucker is shooting 13-for-23 (56.5 percent) on 2s and 6-for-7 (85.7 percent) from the free throw line.
“Tucker came in, and he shined for a freshman,” Woodson said. “He looked – you’ve seen him play since he’s been here. He’s a guy that can help us. I leaned on him tonight, and he came through and did some positive things.
“But we’re going to need not just Tucker coming off the bench, we’re going to need other guys coming off making basketball plays, winning plays to help us win.”
Myles Rice again carries a heavy load offensively
Redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice was Indiana’s best offensive player for the second straight game.
Rice shot an efficient 8-for-14 from the field and went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to finish with a game-high 20 points in 35 minutes.
Rice also tallied six assists, had five rebounds and committed three turnovers.
Through four games, he’s shooting 46.2 percent on 3s, 66.7 percent on 2s and 92.9 percent from the free throw line.
His strong performance helped Indiana overcome a poor game from Trey Galloway, who went scoreless off the bench in 15 minutes. The fifth-year senior had three turnovers. Kanaan Carlyle also struggled and shot just 1-for-7 from the field with two turnovers in 26 minutes.
Filed to: Bryson Tucker, Myles Rice, UNC Greensboro Spartans