[Postgame 3-2-1] What We Learned From Indiana's blowout loss to Louisville
We break down three key stats, two observations, and one lingering question from Indiana's 89-61 drubbing against Louisville.
PARADISE ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS . — After an uninspiring effort in its final tune-up game ahead of the break on Thursday against UNC-Greensboro, 14th-ranked Indiana was thumped by Louisville in its first game in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
The Hoosiers turned the ball over repeatedly right from the tip. The Cardinals took an immediate lead, never relinquished it, and ended up beating the brakes off Indiana 89-61 on Wednesday afternoon.
“Tonight we just went backwards,” Woodson said postgame. "We just got out-toughed, and that's unacceptable to me."
Junior Malik Reneau was the lone bright spot for the Hoosiers, finishing with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a pair of first-half triples.
With the loss, Indiana falls into the losers bracket and, surprisingly, will play 3rd-ranked Gonzaga tomorrow in the consolation semifinal at 2:30 p.m. EST.
Did you miss yesterday's edition of the postgame show?
3 Meaningful Stats
1. Carlyle and Rice combine to shoot 1-for-13
Guard play was the emphasis for Woodson and his staff this summer. That’s why going out and plucking Kanaan Carlyle and Myles Rice from the transfer portal was a big deal.
However, Indiana got nothing from its transfer guards in Wednesday’s defeat.
The Hoosiers didn’t get a basket from a player classified as a guard until Rice hit a three with 6:32 left in the second half.
Indiana has found success so far this season when Rice has been in control of the basketball. In his prior two outings, Rice totaled 43 points on 62.5% (15/24) shooting from the field. Rice went an abysmal 1-of-11 from the field while only dishing out one assist on Wednesday.
Carlyle has struggled in his first handful of games in an Indiana uniform, but his four-turnover performance was a small piece of what was an out-of-control effort from the Stanford transfer.
Even in their worst games, guards need to have composure and poise to keep the team afloat. Carlyle nor Rice were able to do so and their team struggled as a result.
2. Indiana had 23 turnovers
Entering Wednesday’s contest, Indiana averaged just over 13 turnovers per game, which put them in a decent spot considering the desire to push the pace offensively.
Yesterday, the Hoosiers turned the ball over 23 times, leading to 30 Louisville points.
At his Big Ten Media Day press conference, Mike Woodson preached that turnovers happen when trying to play fast. He has a point. But many of Indiana’s nearly two dozen giveaways were in the half-court offense and were the byproduct of lazy passes or lack of awareness with the basketball.
“Those opportunities you gotta give yourself a chance to score. And we just didn't do that,” a frustrated Woodson said. “But 23 is just way too many. You're not going to beat very many teams in college basketball doing that.”
What makes matters worse for IU was that they finished Wednesday’s game with more turnovers (23) than made shots (21) for the first time since losing to Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse in December of 2022.
3. Hoosiers tallied 23 second chance points.
A silver lining in a poor effort was that Indiana controlled the offensive glass yesterday.
Led by Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau, the cream and crimson hauled in 22 offensive rebounds and looked solid in the rebounding department for the first time this season.
There have been lackluster outings in the early going from Ballo and Reneau regarding rebounding, but Wednesday was much different.
The duo single-handendly kept their team in the game in the first half and were the only two that seemed at least somewhat invested in the game.
Just as crucial as the combination of Carlyle and Rice is to the flow of the offense, Ballo and Reneau must continue their dominance on the glass to give the Hoosiers a chance at victory as the season goes on.
2 Important Observations
1. The Hoosiers were out of control in transition
Indiana and Louisville were complete opposites on Wednesday, but the most glaring facet of the game that the Hoosiers were out-matched in was transition.
The Cardinals had 14 fast break points and were in complete control even when pushing the pace.
On the other hand, Indiana had just 4 points in transition and went a woeful 4-of-19 on layup attempts. Most of those 15 missed layups were when a Hoosier would dribble out of control toward the basket and throw a prayer at the basket.
Not once during Wednesday’s loss did Indiana look like a cohesive team. Everything was disconnected, and it resulted in individuals trying to play hero ball.
“I mean that only makes the game worse for us,” Reneau said of the disconnect. “People trying to do it by themselves, it just only causes more turnovers. I mean, you may get a couple buckets here and there, but our focus as a group is just trying to play together from here on out and keep going from there.”
The broadcast caught the lack of togetherness during a timeout. The cameras showed a spirited Luke Goode appearing to argue with Mackenzie Mgbako while Woodson looked on from the outside.
The transition issues are just a microcosm of what was, overall, a performance resembling a runaway train effort by the program on Wednesday.
2. Another showcase game goes bad for Woodson and Indiana.
Indiana losing on a neutral floor has become clockwork.
Wednesday afternoon’s beatdown was another in a list of showcase games that Indiana was dominated in.
The last four losses Indiana has suffered on a neutral court have been by 20 points or more, with Wednesday afternoon’s 28-point drubbing matching the worst of the bunch (104-76 last year vs Auburn in Atlanta).
Far too many times in the last four seasons, Indiana has gone to a neutral site to get its teeth smashed in. This is a direct indictment on Mike Woodson and his staff to not have his team ready to play in front of a national audience.
Indiana-Louisville was an opportunity for Indiana to show what they’re made of, and they fell flat on their face.
“Tonight we just went backwards,” Woodson said postgame. "We just got out-toughed, and that's unacceptable to me."
1 Lingering Question
Game Preview: Indiana vs Gonzaga
We are doing something new this week with games coming in such short order. Rather than a lingering question, we will be doing a preview of the Hoosiers’ next game.
Indiana wasn’t the only ranked team that fell in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament yesterday. West Virginia upset the third-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs 86-78 in an overtime thriller.
The Bulldogs are one of the more experienced teams in college basketball, bringing back 81 percent of last season’s scoring, and 71 percent of their rebounding.
Wyoming transfer and familiar name to Indiana fans Graham Ike leads Mark Few’s team in points and rebounding, while star guard Ryan Nembhard leads the way with 9 assists per game.
As a team, Gonzaga is averaging nearly 91 points per game this season, shooting 36 percent from downtown in the early.
The Thanksgiving showdown with Gonzaga gives Indiana a mulligan, of sorts, and an opportunity to earn a marquee victory in the early season.
The top-15 showdown will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli on the call, while Austin Render and Errek Suhr will be on the hometown call for the IU Radio Network.
It is painfully obvious that even with sufficient talent to be successful/competitive Coach Woodson is not the person IU needs to restore respectability to the program.
Couple of thoughts:
1. When arguably the best player on your team takes only 7 as shots, your (star) guards are not doing their job. Period.
2. When the style of ball, both offensively and defensively, is 30 - 40 years old, you're going to lose games like this badly just about every time.
3. Kids coming out of high school aren't going to even consider IU for their college ball. I frankly believe that we're already seeing that. And furthermore, we're going to see heavy losses in the transfer portal, with nobody wanting to come to IU to backfill the losses.
4. If I'm even remotely close in the above thoughts, Woody will have been solely responsible for the last steps in destroying the once proud basketball program at his alma mater.
Such a shame!