Thoughts on a 77-68 win against Winthrop:
Oumar Ballo sat on the bench, inactive for tonight’s contest. Malik Reneau joined him for much of the game, saddled with foul trouble.
With Indiana’s starting bigs making less of an impact tonight, Langdon Hatton made the most of his opportunity.
In the Bahamas, Hatton did the little things, kept the ball moving and was additive to a team concept. Tonight, in 26 minutes of action, he did it again in his best game as a Hoosier. In 14 first-half minutes, the Bellarmine transfer racked up five offensive rebounds and drew fouls, keeping things alive for the Hoosiers on multiple possessions. With Reneau picking up an early third foul in the second half, Hatton again played many minutes and continued to shine. By game’s end, he picked up seven points, 11 boards, three blocks, one assist and one steal. While he did have four fouls, Hatton’s three blocks at the rim helped deter a Winthrop team that got there again and again as the Eagles attacked all contest long.
With Ballo not seeing the floor tonight and Reneau playing just 14 minutes, Indiana wasn’t seeking to get as many post touches as usual. As a result, the offensive spacing was better. That was big for Myles Rice, as he had more room to operate. Rice scored several baskets at the rim in both the half-court offense and in transition. His 18 points (7-of-13) led the way for the Hoosiers. And against a Winthrop squad that was getting to the line at a higher rate than any team in the country heading into the contest, Indiana actually bested the Eagles in that department. The Hoosiers sported a free-throw rate of 36 percent to Winthrop’s 31 percent. Indiana went 16-of-24 (66.7 percent) from the line. The Eagles shot 14-of-20 (70 percent). Indiana also turned the ball over on just 11 percent of its possessions and got out in transition, scoring 17 fast-break points.
And yet, this game was close. Indiana clung to a one-point lead (69-68) with 3:16 to play. A big reason why? Indiana was abysmal from 3-point range. Luke Goode made Indiana’s first attempt from deep at the 17:04 of the first half. But from there, the Hoosiers missed 19 in a row to shoot just five percent (1-of-20) for the game. Goode finished 1-of-9. Mgbako went 0-of-5. Rice, Kanaan Carlyle and Trey Galloway shot a combined 0-of-6. More than half (52.7 percent) of Indiana’s misses came from deep in the contest.
And while not as egregious as we’ve seen in other non-conference games this season, the Hoosiers also had some effort and energy lulls, allowing the Eagles to keep pace for the entire contest. Indiana never led by double-digits at any point in this one.
With the non-conference season in the books, Indiana hasn’t given much indication that it will be in the mix for a Big Ten title. And in any noteworthy NCAA tournament projection, the Hoosiers are currently on the outside looking in. Right now, this team often operates more like a collection of individually talented players than a cohesive one with a strong identity.
It’s worked against teams from the likes of the Southern, Big South and Ohio Valley Conferences. But in Big Ten play? Indiana might be on its way to a sub-.500 mark if it can’t get its act together.
Filed to: Winthrop Eagles
