NEW YORK — On one of the biggest basketball stages in the world, under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden, Indiana suffered its first loss of the season against the defending national champions and fifth-ranked UConn Huskies 77-57.
“We were right there, they’re not 20 points better than us and we know that,” senior guard Trey Galloway said in the postgame press conference.
The effort on the glass was a glaring issue for the Hoosiers in their first matchup in the Empire Classic. Indiana gave up 15 offensive rebounds to the Huskies, which resulted in 16 second-chance points. Through the first three games of the season, Indiana gave up 38 total offensive boards.
Looking at the backcourt of the cream and crimson, the team's guards only gathered three total rebounds. Indiana point guard Xavier Johnson found himself in foul trouble just minutes into the game, which sidelined the team captain for much of Sunday’s contest.
“I got to trust that you can get through the half with the two fouls,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said in the postgame press conference. “Xavier is a big part of what we do, he’s got to become better at running our team, and be smart about not picking up fouls.”
Despite a heavy Indiana crowd inside Madison Square Garden, the Hoosiers could never pull within seven points after 12 minutes went by in the first half. Plenty of times Indiana had the opportunity, but it missed field goals and its lack of effort on the boards allowed UConn to snuff out any chance for an Indiana comeback.
A team that prides itself on paint buckets and playing a bully-ball type of offense only managed 22 points in the paint. Seven-footer Kel’el Ware was able to put up 11 points but he did not knock down a two-point bucket, something that Woodson says is unacceptable.
“You look at his start for us, a lot of his work has been in the paint and tonight it looked like he didn’t want any part in it and I told him that,” Woodson said. “He’s seven feet tall. He’s got to get in there and mix it up.”
Indiana’s time in New York City is not over yet. After a wake-up call following its 20-point loss against UConn, Indiana will look to get back into the win column as the Hoosiers will take on either Texas or Louisville at 4:30 p.m. ET Monday.
