The inconsistencies surrounding the 2024-25 Indiana Men’s Basketball team continued into the Hoosiers’ Friday night lights showdown against Miami (OH) on Friday night.
While the Hoosiers did come away with the 76-57 win, a scoreline that is comfortable enough when looking at the metrics, some very obvious issues have been a trend for the now 7-2 squad.
Indiana got out to a great start as when the buzzer rang for the first media timeout, the Hoosiers were already leading 13-3. It looked like IU would keep its foe at arm's length for the entirety of the game as the RedHawks struggled to get quality shots, while the Hoosiers were scoring with relative ease.
While the offense was able to continue putting up numbers in the first period, the defense completely folded. Changes in the lineup may have attributed to that.
By the end of the first 20 minutes, Indiana was leading by a slim margin as the murmurs of the crowd saw their team up 39-36 at the break.
Again, offensively looked alright as Myles Rice scored 14 of his 17 on the night, and the tandem of bigs Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo were going to work down low, combining for 15 points and 10 boards.
The defense, however, was all out of sorts as the RedHawks had a plethora of open looks from all over the court, especially from downtown. In the first half, Miami (OH) went 7-for-16 from three.
“These are the growing pains, man…we gotta just keep stepping and building,” head coach Mike Woodson said about the first-half defense and overall inconsistencies.
Whether it has been a lack of effort, communication, or a new team still finding its footing this team's ability to play a complete 40 minutes has yet to be seen.
While the scoring was a strong point in the first half, the carelessness with the ball has been so costly this season and again against the RedHawks. In the game, Indiana coughed up the rock 16 times, nine of which came in the first half.
In the final 3:10 of the first half, Indiana lost the ball four times, three of which came from point guard Myles Rice; two of those three were traveling violations.
“Moving forward when we start playing Big Ten basketball, plays like that can really put you in a hole,” Woodson said.
As the second half began, this game was shaping to be another tight nonconference battle for Indiana as with just over 10 minutes left, a Luke Skaljac three-pointer brought the Hoosier lead down to 55-50.
At this point, some type of message was sent, as the crowd's groans bounced off the walls of Assembly Hall. Indiana would close out the final 10 minutes by going on a 21-7 run, ultimately burying the RedHawks.
The defense looked arguably the best it has all season during half number two as Miami (OH) went 7-for-30 from the field, 4-for-16 from three, and only came down with 13 rebounds. While the Hoosiers were unable to force many turnovers in either half, the defense turned it up a notch in the second.
“I’ll take that all day long. I know if we do that we put ourselves in a position to win basketball games,” Woodson said on holding the RedHawks to 21 second-half points.
The offense – again – was good enough for Indiana in half two as Malik Reneau put up 10 to get his total to a game-high 19 on the evening. Oumar Ballo had his best game with Indiana – 14 points, a monstrous 18 rebounds, a career-high six assists, and two emphatic blocks.
“My teammates have been doing a really good job to try and find me in position,” Ballo said.
Through the first-half struggles, Indiana still took care of business with a comfortable 19-point margin of victory. But the glaring issues revolving around them prevent them from stacking moments like they did in the opening and closing segments of Friday’s game.
The work will have to be seen on the court as there is not a ton of turnaround time before Indiana’s next contest. The Hoosiers have their first Big Ten game of the season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers coming to Bloomington on Monday for a 6:30 p.m. tip.
