The Minute After: Sam Houston State

  • Dec 3, 2024 10:32 pm in

Thoughts on a 97-71 win against Sam Houston State:

The Hoosiers failed to rebound in the Bahamas and let Providence fire away from 3-point range. As the Bearkats entered Assembly Hall this evening, their statistical profile looked like potential trouble if those trends continued.

Their 3-point percentage of 39.9 ranked 15th in the country. Sam Houston State had also snagged 34.6 percent of their offensive rebounds this season.

Would the Hoosiers trip up here? Would they allow Sam Houston State to stick around too close too late and not get an analytics-friendly victory?

No on both accounts. Indiana took care of business tonight, winning by a comfortable 26 points. The win moved the Hoosiers from No. 52 to No. 44 on KenPom.

Because of how Sam Houston State runs its offense, Indiana didn’t employ any nail-slot-rim ball screen coverage this evening. When the Bearkats ran middle ball screens, they didn’t have a player on the wing ready to catch and fire. That helped Indiana in three ways tonight. One, the defense didn’t look like a hot mess. And two, it helped their rebounding as well. Without a couple of players flying around, confused and out of position, Indiana focused more on finding the ball on missed shots. Finally, more defensive rebounds for Indiana meant more opportunities to get out in transition. IU’s 25 fast-break points accounted for 25.7 percent of its scoring in this one.

Indiana allowed Sam Houston State to rebound just 12.8 percent of its misses, the lowest the Hoosiers have held an opponent to all season. While the Hoosiers did allow some straight line-drive scores and weren’t always crisp on defense, their performance overall was acceptable. The Bearkats scored just .92 points per possession.

Offensively, Luke Goode finally had a night. The Illinois transfer knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half and made 5-of-7 overall. His 18 points and five made 3s are a career-high. Myles Rice started this one just like his rough showing in the Bahamas. His body language continued to sag and he had three first-half turnovers. But as the second half went along, Rice started to find it again. He got hot and kept making shots. Rice went 7-of-8 (15 points) from the field in the second half. He finished with a game-high 19.

Indiana also went longer stretches than usual with only one big on the floor, opting for smaller lineups instead of a two-big configuration featuring Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau. Anthony Leal received more playing time in those types of lineups. He moved the ball and brought effort and energy. The Bloomington native’s line in 25 minutes showed he did a little bit of everything: four points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. He was a +39 tonight, the best on the team.

Indiana shot strongly from deep (7-of-15, 46.7 percent) and got to the line well, hitting 22-of-29 (75.9 percent).

Indiana was good enough tonight, but one game does not make a season. If the Hoosiers want to prove the Bahamas’ performance isn’t who they are, they need to stack multiple performances like this  — or better — over a sustained period.

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