[Postgame 3-2-1] What We Learned From Indiana's Win Over Kennesaw State

Here are three key stats, two observations, and one lingering question from Indiana's final non-conference game against Kennesaw State.

It wasn’t pretty at times, but Indiana closed their non-conference slate with a 100-87 victory over Kennesaw State — in a game that looked to be a track meet from the beginning.

Indiana ultimately used the energy from the near-capacity Assembly Hall crowd to surge past Kennesaw State down the stretch, but this was not wire-to-wire domination by the Hoosiers.

Kel’el Ware was ruled out for game with an illness, and Xavier Johnson’s absence continued for at least one more game.

The combination of Kennesaw State’s tempo and 3-happy offense, plus Indiana being without their star big man, gave the game the feel of one that could lead to Indiana’s first Quad 3 loss of the season. And Kennesaw State hung tough for a while.

But Indiana went on a 27-9 run over a nine-minute span to put the game away in the second half and pick up their 10th victory.

Indiana is currently sporting a 9-0 record in Quad 3/4 games, but just a 1-3 record in Quad 1 opportunities.

In his three seasons, Mike Woodson has yet to lose a “buy game” and remains undefeated against unranked non-conference foes in Assembly Hall.

Here are three key stats, two observations, and one lingering question from Indiana’s victory over Kennesaw State.

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

3 Meaningful Stats

1. Indiana was +17 with Anthony Leal on the floor.

With 12:59 remaining on the clock, Indiana found themselves trailing by four. The energy in Assembly Hall was deflated, and Kennesaw State had all the momentum.

Enter Anthony Leal.

Leal entered to a roar from the crowd and immediately brought the energy. Indiana went on a 5-0 run to take the lead back at the media timeout, and the energy peaked in Assembly Hall.

What did the Bloomington native and fan favorite do to have Mike Woodson insert him into the game?

Practice.

“He's had a really great week of practice,” Woodson said of the senior. “After the break, he came back, and I thought his two days of practice, he deserved to play more.”

Leal put a ton of pressure on the Owls’ shifty guards when they had the ball and made it very tough for Kennesaw State to get an uncontested shot up.

Anthony’s effort on the defensive end is precisely what the coaching staff has been desperately searching for in the first half of the season.

Schematically, Indiana has struggled on defense and has yet to find a defensive scheme that has worked.

Woodson claimed in his postgame presser that Leal will probably see more minutes in the future.

“He came in and gave us the boost that we needed. So we'll continue to keep our eyes on Anthony and see where we go with him.”

2. Indiana won the board battle 43-28.

It should be no surprise that Indiana won in the rebound department against a much smaller opponent in Kennesaw State; however, it was how the Hoosiers dominated the Owls on the glass last night.

Without sophomore big man Kel’el Ware, who was ruled out before the game with an illness, Indiana was shorthanded in the front court.

Payton Sparks, a native of Winchester, Indiana, started in place of Ware, and easily had his best game in Bloomington last night. He scored 10 points on 4-4 shooting and collected 8 rebounds in 14 minutes on the floor.

“[Sparks] only played 14 minutes tonight, but I thought they were a positive 14 minutes to help us win a basketball game,” Woodson said of the Ball State transfer. “That tells me a lot about him in terms of being ready to play because you just never know.”

At times this season, the guards have struggled to box-out and get a rebound; however, seven Hoosiers recorded a rebound last night.

Indiana will hold the size advantage in the front-court in almost all of their remaining, but the team’s fate will be determined by whether or not the guards can block out and gather rebounds.

3. Kennesaw State only had 15 fast-break points.

Heading into last night’s tilt, the Owls averaged nearly 76 possessions per game, the most in college basketball.

There was no doubt that Antoine Pettway would have his team continue their fast-paced style of play to try and pressure Indiana to play the same way.

It passed the test with flying colors.

The final ten minutes is when the Hoosiers turned it on. They got back well in transition and forced Kennesaw State to take ill-advised shots from 30+ feet out.

“They try to get up and down the court, a lot of ball-screen action, a lot of up and down with them, cherry picking,” Reneau said postgame. “We just had to stop their initial force.”

Additionally, it was almost as if it was 1953 again and Branch McCracken’s ‘Hurryin’ Hoosiers’ took the floor named after their coach last night.

Indiana scored 17 points in transition tonight and created good looks both inside and out. The offense is much smoother when the team is pushing the ball offensively.

The Hoosiers matched Kennesaw State’s quickness for a full forty minutes. That means a ton for a team’s confidence.