For the first time in Indiana men’s basketball history, the Hoosiers hosted the Trojans of Southern California in Assembly Hall. The now 13-3 Hoosiers returned from their victorious trip over Penn State in The Palestra with yet another Big Ten win, this time over Eric Musselman’s Trojans, 82-69. Oumar Ballo led all scorers with 23 points while Myles Rice contributed an all-around performance of 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Below are some takeaways from the Hoosier's ninth win in 10 games:
Oumar Ballo has entered into one of the country's top tier of big men
Oumar Ballo is good.
That doesn’t suffice.
Oumar Ballo is one of the top centers in the Big Ten, and maybe the nation, good.
Ballo missed Indiana’s contest against Winthrop on Dec. 29 with concern swirling around his scratch. Since that absence, Ballo has flipped a switch in his game.
Ballo has recorded games of 17 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Rutgers, 25 points and 13 rebounds over Penn State, and added eight rebounds alongside his 23 points on Wednesday. He has shot 27 of 39 from the field in those three games and has rejected seven shots. This is only the second time in Ballo’s career he has recorded back-to-back 20-point outings and the first since 2022 while still a member of the Arizona Wildcats.
Indiana has won five straight and owes plenty of credit to the 7-footer for it.
“He’s playing better, he’s gotten better, we’ve featured him,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said. “He’s a big piece to the puzzle and that’s why we brought him here, to play center for us.”
Ballo now ranks second in the Big Ten in boards with 9.6 per game, second in field goal percentage (min. 5 FGA), and tied for second in blocks with 1.9 per game. He is also one of two players in the country to be averaging 13.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game (Auburn’s Johni Broome).
With Malik Reneau having now missed two full games and almost the entirety of the Rutgers game after suffering a right knee injury, Ballo has been placed into a different role in Indiana’s offense, and has thrived. While Reneau is a major factor for the Hoosiers, this stretch of games without him may influence Woodson’s game plans going forward when Reneau returns.
Indiana continued its trend of slow starts at home, but slow starts are turning into improved finishes
“I’m not going to dwell on it,” Woodson said in response to his team's slow starts at home this season. “I mean the bottom line is we won today and our team has shown they don’t quit.
So far this season the Hoosiers struggled to put a full 40 minutes together while at home resulting in forgettable first halves against Eastern Illinois and Miami (OH). Wednesday’s game followed that same trend as the teams entered the halftime locker rooms deadlocked at 38. The difference Wednesday, however, was a fiery start to the second half, going on an 11-3 run and never looking back.
A few key differences between the halves stand out.
First, Indiana scored 11 points off turnovers in the second half compared to blank production in the opening frame. Indiana caused the same amount of turnovers in each half, eight, but was able to get out and catch the Trojans on their heels more in the second half leading to those scores. This is in addition to Indiana only turning it over once in the second half, four fewer times than in the first half.
Secondly, Trey Galloway gave the Hoosiers nine of his 11 points in the second half. Some of that can be attributed to him continuing to get settled into his role on this team.
“I didn't really get to start playing until (the) end of October, September time,” Galloway said. “So just missing that time, it was tough beginning the year to have that connection. Now since I've been on the court we're starting to be able to feed off other guys and stuff, so just learn how we play and it's been good.”
While Indiana has laid multiple first-half eggs so far this season, the resilience of this team must not be underestimated. Slow starts can be concerning, but winning nine of 10 speaks for itself.
Quick Hits
-
Myles Rice has struggled from the field in spots this season, notably, he has shot 17-for-45 in the team’s last four games, but Wednesday looked different. Rice was able to get to the rim at will from the perimeter against the USC guards but wasn’t having much luck finishing at the rim. However, Rice did go to the line for a season-high 11 foul shots, making nine. Confidence in his finishing abilities has to come for Rice knowing how elite his speed is in getting to the rim.
Luke Goode is thriving when he is getting positive looks within the offense. Goode mentioned how beneficial it is to get open looks, and attributed that to Rice, saying, “Myles is one of the more dynamic guards in the open court in the country. Not even the Big Ten, the country.” Goode finished with 16 points and connected on four of his five 3-point attempts, his second-most makes this season.
Woodson will have a tough job ahead of him once Reneau returns to play. This may sound out of line considering Reneau is tied for the team lead in scoring, but the single big lineup is producing at a very high rate in the past few games. The starting lineup on Wednesday consisted of Ballo, Rice, Goode, Galloway and Mackenzie Mgbako. This group had only played 53 minutes together coming into this contest but had stacked up a +33 point differential in the last two games when on the floor together. Assistant Coach Brian Walsh made great points when talking to Don Fischer this week saying, “It’s harder to double when you have shooters around him (Ballo) than it is when you have your partner to the left or right of him and the floor shrinks a little bit.” By no means is this an indication that Ballo and Reneau shouldn’t be on the floor together, but having two bigs who are solid passers will create some decisions for Woodson when he starts for gameplan for Reneau’s return.