The Minute After: Providence
Thoughts on an 89-73 win against the Friars:
Indiana’s offense looked different this afternoon. It’s the biggest reason why it won comfortably against Providence.
The Hoosiers placed renewed emphasis on its guards and wings, who have struggled in this tournament. Their first play of the game wasn’t action to get Oumar Ballo or Malik Reneau isolated in the paint, something we usually have seen this season. It was a high ball screen for Myles Rice. While it didn’t result in a basket, it put the onus on Indiana’s point guard to make something happen immediately. Rice got into the lane more and dished out five first-half assists after only recording two total against Louisville and Gonzaga.
That said, Rice had a rough second half, picked up four total fouls (including a flagrant), recorded only one more assist and shot it poorly (1-of-8) for the game. All told, his shooting numbers from the Battle 4 Atlantis were abysmal: 4-of-25 from the field (16 percent). Rice’s body language and energy also didn’t look good at times.
The Washington State transfer getting back on track will be essential for Indiana going forward.
So enter Trey Galloway and Mackenzie Mgbako.
Galloway started for an injured Kanaan Carlyle. His presence injected more playmaking and veteran savvy from the jump. Like with Kel’el Ware a season ago, Galloway is strong operating a two-man, pick-your-poison game with Ballo on side pick-and-rolls. Galloway can hit the floater in the lane or get to the rim for scores. He also can lob it up to Ballo for easier looks. It creates better movement for the offense instead of Ballo doing straight post-ups, which we saw more of in the previous two games of the tournament.
Galloway had five assists for the game. He also shot well from deep (3-of-4) and overall (7-of-12) to score 18 points.
Mgbako led all scorers with 25 points. The sophomore took it into his own hands early on, hunting for looks, even if contested. But from there, Indiana ran multiple double pindown sets to free him for 3-point shots on the wing. It paid off. Mgbako started hitting and getting into a nice rhythm, picking up where he left off before Indiana’s trip to the Bahamas. He hit 4-of-7 from deep for the game and 9-of-14 overall. He also made 4-of-4 from the line.
Malik Reneau added some punch down low in the second half to help close this one out. Reneau went 5-of-6 from the field over the final 20 minutes, with three of those makes becoming and-1s as he finished through contact and connected at the free-throw line each time. He finished with 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field.
Indiana also shot 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from 3-point range and 17-of-20 (85.0 percent) from the line. The Hoosiers scored 1.35 points per possession, a season-high. That comes after they didn’t crack 1.0 in losses to Gonzaga and Louisville earlier in the tournament.
While Indiana’s offensive performance was strong today, its defense and rebounding continue to be a concern. The Friars rebounded 39 percent of their misses for the game. Indiana is allowing opponents to rebound a third of their misses this season (33.5 percent), which ranks 289th in the country. Indiana’s perimeter defense continues to allow too many straight-line drives. And its insistence on helping one pass away means the Friars got a lot of good 3-point looks. They finished 10-of-30 for the game.
Good on the Hoosiers for salvaging something from their Battle 4 Atlantis trip with today’s win. However, this team must improve upon many issues to meet its preseason expectations.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Providence Friars