Indiana improved to 5-2 with an 89-73 win against Providence on Friday in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Here are five takeaways from the win against the Friars:
Trey Galloway played his best game of the season so far
Starting in place of Kanaan Carlyle, who did not play, Trey Galloway put together his best effort of the young season on Friday.
Galloway, who had been on a minutes restriction entering the Bahamas, played 29 minutes on Thursday against Gonzaga and followed that up with a season-high 30 minutes against Providence.
The 6-foot-5 guard finished with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. He was 7-for-12 from the floor, including a 3-for-4 mark on 3s.
With Myles Rice struggling, Indiana needed someone in the backcourt to step forward. On Friday, it was Galloway and it came at the perfect time after the entire Hoosier backcourt had struggled the previous two games.
Mackenzie Mgbako gets going early and scores a game-high 25 points
After two lackluster games against Louisville and Gonzaga, the 6-foot-9 sophomore returned to his early season form against Providence.
Indiana ran a few actions to get Mgbako looks in the first half. Once the shots began to fall, his confidence ballooned.
Mgbako finished with a game-high 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting. He was 4-for-7 on 3s.
In his postgame comments, Friars coach Kim English said Mgbako looked like a “top 10 pick” on Friday.
Through seven games, Mgbako is 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) on 3s. Indiana needs to ensure Mgbako gets more than the 4.4 3-point attempts he’s currently taking per game.
Indiana’s defensive rebounding was once again poor
Another game, another poor effort on the defensive glass from Indiana.
On Friday, the Hoosiers surrendered 17 offensive rebounds to Providence. The Friars had 21 second-chance points and still lost by 16.
Indiana allowed 41 offensive rebounds in three games in the Bahamas. As of Friday afternoon, the Hoosiers are allowing their opponents to rebound 33.5 percent of their missed shots, which ranks 289th nationally.
Postgame, Woodson acknowledged that rebounding remains a significant issue for his program.
“It’s been a major concern,” Woodson said. “This dates back to last season where we were a pretty big team last season and gave up a bunch of rebounds. We gotta get that fixed. That’s major moving forward.
“It’s not like we don’t talk about it, it’s not like we don’t do blockout drills and things of that nature. After a while, it comes down to heart and guts and getting in there and making sure you get in there and secure the ball after you’ve gotten a good defensive stop. And we’re not doing that. We’re giving up too many second chance buckets. We gotta eliminate that, get better.”
Myles Rice was mainly a non-factor in the Bahamas
Indiana point guard Myles Rice was not productive in the Bahamas, except for his first-half performance on Friday, during which he had five assists and no turnovers.
The Washington State transfer was expected to be the answer for the Hoosiers at point guard, but his play over the last three games has only produced questions.
In three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis, Rice scored 11 points and shot 4-for-25 from the field. He had eight assists and six turnovers.
Moving forward, Indiana needs far more from Rice, who last season was one of the top point guards in the Pac-12.
“I’m not concerned,” Woodson said. “He’s a tough kid. We’ll get him back. We’ll go home and regroup and we’ll get him back going because he’s a major, major piece to the puzzle.”
Another underwhelming defensive effort
Despite a comfortable 16-point win, Indiana’s defense was less than impressive in three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Hoosiers gave up 89 points in losses to Louisville and Gonzaga and then surrendered 73 points against Providence to close out the event.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Indiana’s defense is ranked 64th nationally in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency.
After not allowing an opponent to score more than .99 points per possession in its first three games, Indiana allowed each opponent in the Bahamas to score 1.1 or more points per possession.
“Defensively, I still think we’re a little behind,” Woodson said. “Especially these last three games that we’ve played.”
(Photo credit: Battle 4 Atlantis on X)
Filed to: Myles Rice, Providence Friars, Trey Galloway
