Ideas on a 69-58 win towards the Spartans:
Indiana seemed prefer it was properly on its technique to a blowout victory.
Early on, the Hoosiers locked up on D. Ball stress mixed with Oumar Ballo deterring pictures on the rim was the recipe. On offense, Myles Rice hit some early 3-pointers and Indiana’s dimension inside was an excessive amount of for the Spartans to deal with.
The Hoosiers held a 21-5 lead on the 11:07 mark within the first half.
However that stretch of the sport additionally featured a bench-heavy lineup, one thing Mike Woodson has rolled out across the 12-minute and 8-minute timeouts within the first half a number of occasions throughout his IU tenure — usually to middling outcomes. Tonight was no totally different. That lineup sputtered on offense. Even with extra starters ultimately coming again in, Indiana’s protection and rebounding took a number of steps again.
The Hoosiers weren’t blocking out properly. They allowed an excessive amount of dribble penetration and beauty from the 3-point line.
Whereas Indiana nonetheless carried a nine-point lead into halftime, its locked-in nature from the beginning of the sport had evaporated.
The second half didn’t instill rather more confidence. The Hoosiers began sloppy. Indiana’s nine-point lead vanished to a 40-all tie on the 15:57 mark, because it allowed the Spartans to tear off a 13-4 run to start the ultimate 20 minutes of motion.
Bryson Tucker helped guarantee there wouldn’t be an upset this night inside Meeting Corridor. The 5-star freshman hit a number of mid-range buckets within the second half, trying like an in-control professional each step of the best way. He hit 5-of-7 from the sphere after the break en path to 14 factors for the sport. Luke Goode additionally knocked down a key transition 3-pointer on the 11:40 mark to push the lead out to 10. At that time, UNC Greensboro began to look a bit gassed towards a group it was giving up dimension, expertise and athleticism to.
The Hoosiers just about maintained from there and received the sport by 11.
“This recreation was simply backwards,” Mike Woodson instructed Don Fischer post-game. “We’ll watch the movie tomorrow and break it down. After which we’re going to have a tricky observe tomorrow.”
Woodson continued at his press convention.
“We didn’t play onerous,” he mentioned. “That’s unacceptable and that’s on me.”
Indiana is now 4-0. It has received all its video games by double-digits. This group is healthier than final 12 months’s iteration to this point, and the expertise is obvious.
But, the Hoosiers haven’t been in a position to put it collectively for a full 40 minutes. Irritating lulls have adopted vivid moments. Particular person brilliance on offense has led to lackadaisical consideration to element on the opposite finish. Indiana appears to understand it’s extra gifted and can ultimately draw back and that’s been sufficient to this point.
And heck, it’s nonetheless early. Many new faces are within the fold, and the pc metrics are on course.
Nonetheless, if Indiana needs to succeed subsequent week within the Bahamas, it must be extra targeted and locked in than it was tonight.
It appears Woodson is properly conscious of that. Can Indiana rise to the event of what lies forward subsequent week? We’ll quickly discover out.
Filed to: UNC Greensboro Spartans
