NEW YORK – With just over four minutes left in round two of the Empire Classic, the Indiana Hoosiers trailed the Louisville Cardinals 64-61. Head coach Mike Woodson knew he needed to make a change, and instead of changing a player, he changed his defensive scheme. Indiana abandoned its man-to-man defense and switched to a zone, a move that caused Louisville to score just one basket with only four seconds remaining.
IU went on a 13-2 run to finish the match, beating the Cardinals 74-66 for third place at Madison Square Garden. Louisville head coach Kenny Payne highlighted what could have been better offensively closing the game.
“We didn’t make the correct reads,” Payne said. “Against the zone you gotta move the ball, you gotta see where you’re passing it to, you gotta look for gaps, and you attack it. Ball movement, attack. Whether it’s to the post or from the perimeter. We didn’t really do that.”
Payne added that his former New York Knicks colleague Woodson “tricked him” as he did not expect the zone defense, but was surprised his team struggled against it as they are usually very good at attacking the zone.
Senior captain Xavier Johnson explained why this change was a surprise to everyone on the floor.
“Coach Woodson doesn’t like playing zone defense so it was something we had to adjust to,” Johnson said. “They were getting downhill a lot and we had to change the game. We went zone and that honestly just opened everything up for us offensively.”
He added that they do not work on this defense very often in practice, but Woodson said it has always been in their back pocket.
The bench unit was great for the Hoosiers — they scored 30 of the team’s 74. Anthony Walker was excellent in the first half, scoring nine points on 3-for-5 shooting along with four rebounds in just 12 minutes of action. Kaleb Banks may have had the biggest impact, however, making his presence known in ways other than scoring.
“Our bench was phenomenal tonight,” Woodson said. “Kaleb Banks I thought played extremely well. He had eight rebounds, three or four assists, a couple steals — we’re going to need that.”
Banks finished with four points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and zero turnovers in 25 minutes. He closed out the game with the starters.
Foul trouble was an issue once again for Indiana, as Mackenzie Mgbako picked up two fouls less than two minutes into the game before being replaced by Banks. He played just nine minutes, but did score four points along with three assists and one rebound. Malik Reneau and Kel’el Ware each had four fouls themselves, one day after Reneau fouled out against UConn.
“[Reneau] was in foul trouble again tonight,” Woodson said. “Their guards, they put so much pressure on you at the rim and getting downhill, it’s tough to keep them in front. I tried to trap them a few times, and then big fella Ware picked up his fourth foul. So we had no choice but to go to a zone.”
Beyond foul trouble, Indiana needs to improve its 3-point shooting as the season progresses. They shot 1-for-11 against Louisville and 3-for-13 against UConn.
It may not have been perfect, but the Hoosiers return to Indiana with a 1-1 record in the Empire Classic, moving to 4-1 on the season. They will take on Harvard on Nov. 26 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, tipping off at 4:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
