[Postgame 3-2-1] What We Learned From Indiana's victory against Sam Houston State

We break down three key stats, two observations, and one lingering question from Indiana's 97-71 win against Sam Houston State.

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA. — In its first game back home, Indiana hosted Sam Houston State on a chilly evening in Bloomington.

Indiana got off to an early lead and never relinquished it, beating Sam Houston State by 26 points.

“I thought it was a total team effort on everybody's part,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “I'm pleased with our play on both ends of the floor.”

Myles Rice led all scorers with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting as four Hoosiers reached double-figures.

Anthony Leal’s strong play off the bench was a big storyline coming out of this game, which the guys covered in depth on the postgame show.

Here are three stats, two additional observations, and one lingering question from Indiana's 89-71 victory against Sam Houston State.

Did you miss yesterday's edition of the postgame show?

3 Meaningful Stats

1. Luke Goode scores 13 first-half points

There weren't many highlights in last week's trip to The Bahamas, but Illinois transfer Luke Goode's confidence was trending upwards after a relatively productive week in paradise.

The confidence Goode gained at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament carried into Tuesday's game in Bloomington.

After missing his first three-point attempt, Goode rattled home four consecutive makes on the way to a 13-point outburst in the first half.

For the first time this season, Indiana was running plays to get the sharpshooter open, and more times than not, the shots fell for Goode.

The Fort Wayne native finished the game with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Goode has been a vocal leader this season, impressing his teammates with hard work in practice and games.

“He's the one in the huddles, the meetings. He's always saying something to us, giving encouragement to the guys. It's been that way since the summertime. He's been trying to put us in the right position,” Malik Reneau said postgame. “He just knows what it takes to get to that stage. So just having Luke Goode as one of our leaders on the team just helps us out a lot.”

2. Indiana was +34 with one big on the floor

The Indiana offense has had its struggles in the early going, with the most glaring issue being a lack of flow and consistency when Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau are on the floor together. (Those two playing alongside Mackenzie Mgbako hasn’t been great defensively, either.)

The duo was on the floor together for 12:51 of game time last night. During that time, Indiana was -8 in point differential while committing 75% of its turnovers.

On the flip side, Indiana was a +34 when one of the two was on the floor alone without the other during the remaining 27:09 of the game.

The offensive flow was much smoother and there was more room for guys like Myles Rice and Luke Goode to find open space and shots.

“When there is one big out there, it flows better, more space out there for shooters and open up the floor,” Reneau said. “Me and Ballo definitely got to work on the two-big lineup so we can be a better presence with the two-big lineup, too.”

Time will tell if Woodson and his staff will continue the trend of playing one at a time, but they have a few games worth of sample size to determine which works best for the offense.

3. Indiana shot 62% from the field

Indiana's unfortunate showing in The Bahamas was spearheaded by an inability to make layups. They were often taking wildly out-of-control layups in transition, leading to fast-break opportunities the opposite way.

Tuesday night provided a much different look for Mike Woodson's squad. Not only were the Hoosiers taking higher percentage shots, they were converting at a stellar rate.

Indiana converted on 18-of-24 layups, most of which were high-percentage looks within the offense. As a team, the Hoosiers finished the game shooting 34-of-55 from the field and 7-for-15 from deep.

The combination of taking and making the right shots within the offense was a recipe for offensive success all night for Indiana.

On the backs of Goode’s 18 points, Indiana’s bench outscored Sam Houston State’s bench 36-10, which Woodson was very pleased with postgame.

“It helps when your bench come off and play the way they did,” Woodson said. “Goode was fantastic tonight, but everybody off the bench played well.”

2 Important Observations

1. The middle ten minutes continue to plague the Hoosiers.

With just over five minutes remaining in the first half, Indiana held a 22-point advantage, and it appeared that the Hoosiers were in for a comfortable rout of Sam Houston State.

Less than ten minutes later, the lead had evaporated to 9, and the momentum was on the Bearkats’ side.

Far too often in the early season, Indiana has collapsed in the middle portion of the game, and it cost them against both Louisville and Gonzaga last week.

After the lead dipped under double-digits last night, Indiana hit the gas again, ultimately winning the game against an overmatched opponent by a comfortable 26-point margin.

But as we just saw last week, Indiana can ill-afford a collapse in the middle of the game against better competition — especially during conference games because it can often be the difference between wins and losses that have tournament implications.

2. Indiana looked like a complete team.

There have been doomsday moments on social media since Indiana was run off the floor by Louisville eight days ago — some understandable and some a bit hysterical.

But as stated in our last Postgame 3-2-1, the poor performance in The Bahamas — while a major missed opportunity — doesn’t have to be a death knell for Indiana’s tournament hopes.

Indiana is one of the most talented teams in the country and, as shown Tuesday night, has offensive firepower up and down the roster.

Although still an inferior opponent, Sam Houston State was the toughest of the buy game opponents, sitting in the 120’s entering Tuesday night’s contest. With the victory, Indiana is back in the top 45 in KenPom and just five spots lower than they were heading into the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Indiana looked the part of a high-caliber team in a 26-point victory and will have one more opportunity to gear up for a week of conference play with Miami (Ohio) on Friday night.

1 Lingering Question

What can Indiana do to keep Myles Rice going?

Entering the season, Myles Rice was predicted by everyone to be a key figure for this Indiana basketball team. He was supposed to move Indiana beyond the point guard volatility of the last few seasons.

And although he has shown flashes in an Indiana uniform, he was non-existent for the entirety of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

Last night, Rice finished with 19 points, with 15 coming in the second half. Rather than settling for contested jumpers, he got downhill, converting on easy layups.

Indiana's Myles Rice (1) shoots over Sam Houston's Brennen Burns (0) during the Indiana versus Sam Houston men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

These breakout performances against sub-100 KenPom teams are great for confidence, but Indiana needs these performances from Rice in games against quality opponents.

“Myles is still trying to figure out the surrounding pieces, you know what I mean? He's a good pick and roll guy that can get downhill as you saw today. He's capable of making shots,” Woodson said. “He struggled in the Bahamas. You know, to see him come back tonight and play the way he did, I'm proud as hell of him. We just got to keep him headed in the right direction.”

Indiana’s success in conference play will depend on the point guard’s play. The sooner Rice can become a consistent threat at all three levels, the higher the likelihood that the Hoosiers are competing for a Big Ten title.