Indiana trailed by as many as 38 factors in an unpleasant 89-61 loss to Louisville on Wednesday within the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Listed below are 5 takeaways from the loss to the Cardinals:
Indiana was unprepared and uninspired
It didn’t take lengthy into Wednesday’s sport to appreciate which staff was higher ready and able to compete. Louisville led wire-to-wire in its blowout victory in opposition to the Hoosiers. After main by 10 on two events within the first half, the Cardinals blew the sport open to start out the second half. As soon as Louisville threw a number of punches early within the second half, Indiana laid down.
Pat Kelsey’s staff was sharper in its execution and was the aggressor from the opening tip. Indiana, in the meantime, regarded like a staff that believed it might simply present up and win with its expertise.
Because the Cardinals pressured the ball and made Indiana’s guards uncomfortable, turnovers started to pile up.
As Louisville bought snug from the perimeter with its 3-point capturing, the Hoosiers had no reply and no counter punch to the spacing and motion by Kelsey’s staff.
Indiana’s efficiency in its first actual take a look at of the season was a nightmare. The Hoosiers had been 4-0 to start out the common season. However they’d but to enterprise out of Bloomington and had performed gentle competitors. Towards Louisville, the competitors went up a notch and Indiana regarded unprepared and uninspired.
Indiana’s guards failed to indicate up
Indiana’s revamped backcourt was considered as a energy within the preseason. On Wednesday, the Hoosiers bought little or no from the trio of Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle and Trey Galloway.
Rice was the one one of many three who scored. He completed with simply three factors on 1-for-11 capturing.
Carlyle performed solely 14 minutes, took simply two pictures and dedicated 4 turnovers.
And Galloway additionally missed his solely two shot makes an attempt, committing two turnovers in 20 minutes.
The trio mixed to shoot 1-for-15 and had 9 turnovers in 59 minutes. The poor guard play was a serious purpose Indiana was not aggressive in Wednesday’s loss.
The Hoosiers dedicated 23 turnovers
It was no secret that Louisville thrives on ball strain and forcing turnovers getting into the sport.
Indiana, nevertheless, was incapable of dealing with the strain. The Hoosiers turned it over 23 occasions for a turnover proportion of 31.9.
It tied the second-highest turnover proportion for this system in a sport beneath Woodson, who’s in his fourth season in Bloomington.
The IU guards, most notably Rice, by no means regarded snug in opposition to Chucky Hepburn, who had seven steals.
Due to the strain, the Hoosiers by no means established any offensive rhythm and couldn’t get the ball the place it wanted to go. Lengthy scoring droughts and wasted possessions had been a staple of the second half when Louisville constructed its 38-point lead.
Louisville shot 71.1 p.c on 2s
The prevailing thought getting into the sport was that Louisville wanted to make a excessive variety of 3-pointers to beat Indiana.
The Cardinals hit 10 triples and shot 37 p.c from deep. However that wasn’t the distinction within the sport.
Louisville bought no matter it wished within the paint, as Indiana’s protection supplied little resistance. The Cardinals shot 27-for-38 on 2s (71.1 p.c) of their win.
It was the primary time in 5 video games that an opponent made greater than 47 p.c of its 2s in opposition to Indiana.
Regardless of being undersized in comparison with Indiana within the frontcourt, Louisville shot 21-for-32 on the rim.
This was one other embarrassing efficiency in a marquee sport for IU basketball
Indiana’s performances in opposition to marquee opponents in non-conference play have been underwhelming.
Final season, Indiana misplaced by 20 to UConn in New York, by 28 to Auburn in Atlanta and by 4 at dwelling to Kansas. The one main convention opponent IU beat final season was Louisville, which completed the season ranked 185th in KenPom.
In Woodson’s second season, the Hoosiers misplaced by 22 at Kansas and by 14 to Arizona in Las Vegas. IU did beat Xavier by two on the highway and North Carolina by 12 at dwelling within the 2022-23 season.
And in Woodson’s first season, Indiana solely performed three high-major groups within the non-conference. The Hoosiers misplaced to Syracuse on the highway and beat St. John’s at dwelling and Notre Dame in Indianapolis.
Total, when the Hoosiers have performed elite competitors in non-conference play beneath Woodson, the outcomes have been middling. Wednesday’s loss was simply the most recent instance.
(Picture credit score: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Kanaan Carlyle, Louisville Cardinals, Myles Rice, Trey Galloway
