Indiana men’s basketball advanced to 4-0 on the season, defeating UNC Greensboro 69-58 in Assembly Hall on Thursday night.
It wasn’t pretty, however. The Hoosiers continued their early season woes, but faced the adversity head on and came out victorious on the other side.
”(UNC Greensboro) came to play, we didn’t,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “It’s on me. I thought we came out with great intentions.”
The Hoosiers started the game with a 21-5 lead with 11 minutes left to go in the first half. Led by 14 first half points from Myles Rice, Indiana had been on pace to hand UNC Greensboro its second loss of the season in brutal fashion.
But once the second unit entered the game for Indiana, the energy and momentum both on the court and in the seats of Assembly Hall shifted tremendously.
“We were up 19-3 when I started subbing, and that was after guys had played a deep seven, eight, nine minutes straight,” Woodson said. “Once (UNC Greensboro) got rolling, we gave them hope, and they played a solid game all the way through.”
The Spartans concluded the half with a 22-15 run, diminishing the Hoosiers’ double-digit lead down to nine and heading into the locker room down 36-27.
Opening up the second half, Woodson and the Hoosiers had to take the early timeout with 18:20 left to go, as UNC Greensboro came out with an 8-3 run and tightened the Indiana lead down to four.
It was with just 16 minutes left that the Spartans had officially tied up the game at 40, as Malik Reneau fouled Malik Henry to give UNCG a three-point play.
The Hoosiers had nothing going on the court. For every IU punch, the Spartans had an answer. Whether it was giving up the rebound or committing constant turnovers, UNC Greensboro had taken advantage of every missed opportunity Indiana had handed them.
The cream and crimson looked like it was on its way to its first loss of the season.
But then came the Bryson Tucker show.
“Tucker came in, and he shined for a freshman,” Woodson said. “He’s a guy that can help us. I leaned on him tonight, and he came through and did some positive things.”
The freshman led the Hoosiers in the second half with 12 points alone in the half, and 14 total on the night.
Offensive struggles had been apparent throughout the entirety of the game, but Tucker had been the only light the Hoosiers could see at the end of the tunnel, shooting 5-for-7 overall in the second half.
Without Tucker, Indiana shot 8-for-26 in the second 20 minutes of play.
“We need more than just Tuck,” Woodson said. “(Trey) Galloway coming off (the bench), (Luke) Goode coming off, when (Langdon Hatton) plays he’s got to make plays for us. We’ve got to have — I can’t play that first unit all 40 minutes. I don’t want to do that right now.”
IU has been unable to find a way to play all 40 minutes of a game just yet. But in those times where they do click on the court, they succeed. It’s just a matter of when it happens consistently for the Hoosiers this season.
Indiana’s biggest test yet is right around the corner, as the Hoosiers will travel down to The Bahamas to take part in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. The first game falls on Wednesday, Nov. 27, as IU will face the Louisville Cardinals at noon. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN.
