Indiana coach Mike Woodson’s return to Atlanta, where he once coached the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, was not a welcome one. On Saturday afternoon, Auburn defeated Indiana 104-76 at State Farm Arena.
Indiana started the contest playing some of its best basketball of the year. The Hoosiers' first four baskets were 3-pointers, matching their highest number of threes made in a game this season in just the first four minutes of play. With 12:54 remaining in the first half, Indiana led 22-10 and Woodson gave Kel’el Ware and Mackenzie Mgbako a rest.
IU lost control of the game as quickly as it had claimed it. Auburn ended the half on a 42-12 run. It was a combination of the Tigers' athleticism and Indiana’s lack of composure. With senior captain Xavier Johnson missing his third consecutive game, the Hoosiers missed his speed and energy to break Auburn’s full-court press.
“Not having X, I’m not using that as an excuse, I mean he’s a senior point guard that can score the ball and make plays for us especially when we were getting pressured like we were,” Woodson said. “That hurt, but again we showed wonderful signs tonight against a good team early on and we just need to sustain that for a 40-minute ball game.”
Indiana’s defense was abysmal and the Tigers' offense was on fire. Auburn’s 104 points were the second-most the Hoosiers have allowed under Woodson. The last time was a 112-110 loss to Syracuse in double overtime in 2021. The Tigers made 35 of 72 shots (49%), including a 14-for-29 performance from deep. They scored 15 points off Indiana’s 12 turnovers. Auburn finished with only three turnovers.
“In a game like this you’ve got to force more turnovers, get more stops. The rebounding wasn’t that big of a difference but I just thought physically they were the better team tonight,” Woodson said.
Freshman guard Gabe Cupps said Auburn shot so well from deep because the Tigers didn't allow Indiana to get its defense set.
The silver lining for Indiana was its 3-point shooting. The Hoosiers shot six for 17 from beyond the arc, which were their most 3-pointers in a game this season. CJ Gunn is now three for five from three over the last two games. He was two for 28 in his career before that.
“At the end of the day it’s a long season so one game doesn’t determine how we play,” sophomore forward Malik Reneau said. “We bounced back from the UConn game and we had great strides there.”
Auburn improved to 6-2 on the season while Indiana fell to 7-2. The Hoosiers will have a week to prepare for potentially their biggest challenge of the year when they take on No. 2 Kansas in Assembly Hall at 12:30 p.m. ET next Saturday on CBS.
