The Minute After: Rutgers

Thoughts on an 84-74 win against Rutgers:

Rutgers’ elite defense has given Indiana problems in the Mike Woodson era. The Hoosiers entered tonight’s contest just 1-3 against the Scarlet Knights and had yet to crack 66 points in any of the games. Two seasons ago in Piscataway, NJ, the Hoosiers mustered only 48 points.

But this is not the same kind of Steve Pikiell team. On offense, freshman phenoms Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey lead the charge. The Scarlet Knights have slipped defensively, as they came to Bloomington rated 96th in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom.

They also came to Bloomington tonight down leading scorer Harper, who didn’t play due to illness. So that meant Bailey would have to shoulder even more of the load. Did he ever. Bailey hit several high-difficulty shots, putting on an absolute show inside Assembly Hall. Even when Indiana covered him well, he poured in basket after basket, using his length and high-level talent to get buckets. By game’s end, Bailey had dropped 39 points on the Hoosiers via a 16-of-29 mark from the field, which included a 4-of-8 performance from deep. Had he shot better from the line (3-of-8), Bailey would have had a 40-piece tonight.

The freshman accounted for almost half (47.5 percent) of Rutgers’ shots and 52.7 percent of its scoring output this evening. No one else scored in double-figures for the Scarlet Knights.

“That kid Ace Bailey is pretty damn good,” Woodson said during a post-game Peacock interview on Branch McCracken Court.

But Bailey’s monster performance wasn’t enough to get it done against an Indiana team with a pretty good evening. After poor 3-point shooting efforts over their last four games, the Hoosiers came alive from deep. They shot 12-of-27 from distance, good for 44.4 percent. Luke Goode (3-of-5), Trey Galloway (3-of-6) and Mackenzie Mgbako (3-of-7) led the charge.

Oumar Ballo, in a game Malik Reneau departed early with a lower-body injury, also feasted down low against a Rutgers team that couldn’t match his size. Ballo scored 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting as the Hoosiers rode him for stretches of the contest. But the Arizona transfer’s rebounding helped set the tone, too. Ballo ripped down 12 boards, seven of which were offensive. Indiana’s work on the offensive boards, keyed by Ballo, was a huge factor in its victory.

The Hoosiers rebounded 38 percent of their misses, leading to 34 second-chance points. Rutgers mustered just eight second-chance points. All the extra chances for the Hoosiers meant 11 more shot attempts (72 to 61) for the game.

Even on a night where Indiana went to Ballo a lot and got double-digit scoring efforts from Mgbako (16) and Galloway (11), Myles Rice found opportunities — enough opportunities to lead the Hoosiers in scoring with 21 points. The Washington State transfer scored at all three levels and went a perfect 8-of-8 from the line. Rice is now shooting 33-of-36 (91.7 percent) from the line on the season. The Hoosiers would be wise to keep finding ways for him to be in attack mode.

Anthony Leal hit a crazy buzzer-beater to end the first half and played admirable defense on Bailey.

With plenty of tough games ahead, this was the type of game Indiana couldn’t afford to lose. The Hoosiers didn’t. They took care of business and finally broke through offensively against the Scarlet Knights.

Category: The Minute After

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