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Indiana improved to 2-0 with a 72-64 win against Army on Sunday night at Meeting Corridor.
Listed below are 5 takeaways from the victory towards the Black Knights:
Indiana’s indifference to the 3-point line stays troublesome
Indiana was outscored for the second straight sport by 27 factors from behind the 3-point line.
The Hoosiers have been a low-volume 3-point capturing crew since 2017; there are not any indicators of that altering.
Indiana solely tried 11 3-pointers within the win towards Military. That’s not sufficient. Within the second half, the Hoosiers took solely three pictures from the perimeter and related one time.
Regardless of being -54 on factors from past the 3-point line in two video games, Indiana is 2-0.
However the Hoosiers will be unable to persistently win video games towards high-major competitors by persevering with to take fewer 3-pointers than their opponents make, as was the case on Sunday.
Xavier Johnson’s robust first half saved Indiana within the sport
Indiana led narrowly at halftime – 32-31 – and Johnson’s play was the explanation.
The sixth-year level guard scored 15 of his 19 factors in 15 first-half minutes.
He was 4-for-5 from the sphere, together with two made 3-pointers, and 5-for-5 from the free throw line within the first half. He additionally dished out three assists and didn’t commit a turnover.
It was the type of efficiency Indiana wanted to stay afloat as Military knocked down 3-pointers and gained confidence.
Johnson’s second half, nevertheless, was a distinct story. He was simply 0-for-3 from the sphere and dedicated two turnovers in quarter-hour.
Kel’el Ware was dominant down the stretch
As stagnant and out of kinds as Indiana’s offense seemed within the first half, the Hoosiers had been capable of rating 40 factors and 1.25 factors per possession over the ultimate 20 minutes.
The first cause for that was the stellar play of Ware.
The 7-foot Oregon switch was the perfect participant on the ground within the second half, scoring 16 of his team-high 20 factors.
Ware was 7-for-7 from the sphere within the second half and scored off of lobs and from the free throw line.
Ware has averaged 16.5 factors, 9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and two blocks in 33.5 minutes per sport via two video games. He’s capturing 68.8 p.c from the sphere and 66.7 p.c from the free throw line.
Indiana isn’t getting sufficient stops to get out in transition
Mike Woodson has mentioned his want to generate offense in transition extra this season than within the earlier two years.
However Indiana must generate extra stops to take action successfully.
The Hoosiers scored solely 4 fast-break factors towards Military, a quantity far too low towards a crew with inferior expertise.
“We’re not getting very many quick break factors, which we had in our first couple of exhibition video games,” Woodson stated postgame. “We had been out working, and that’s the place we’ve obtained to get to, however when you find yourself taking the ball out of the online and occur to stroll it down and never getting stops as a result of I believed there have been instances we simply didn’t change appropriately, didn’t change up, they usually had been capturing three-point pictures proper in our face, they usually made them.”
The dearth of quick break alternatives begins with Indiana’s defensive breakdowns. The Hoosiers are giving up many open perimeter seems and too many offensive rebounds. Till these areas are cleaned up, quick break factors will likely be few and much between.
Mackenzie Mgbako has been ineffective on each ends
Expectations had been excessive for Mgbako as a nationwide top-10 participant, McDonald’s All-American and five-star recruit.
To date, he’s not dwelling as much as his preseason billing as one of many Huge Ten’s finest freshmen.
Mgbako has appeared detached defensively and sometimes stands straight up fairly than bending his knees and searching engaged. He’s sluggish to shut out on shooters and sometimes out of place.
Offensively, he’s made a couple of leap pictures off of pin-downs however hasn’t proven a capability to do the rest reliably.
Within the final two video games, he’s been benched for an extended stretch of the second half. In Sunday’s win, Mgbako performed solely 5 second-half minutes.
“He has to play tougher and do the issues that we would like executed on each ends of the ground,” Woodson stated Sunday. “Which may hold him within the sport.”
Indiana wants extra from Mgbako, who has the expertise to be one of many crew’s finest scorers. However to understand that potential, he needs to be way more engaged defensively. Protection is a non-negotiable for Woodson, and till Mgbako embraces that, he’s prone to discover himself on the bench down the stretch in video games.
Filed to: Army Black Knights, Kel’el Ware, Mackenzie Mgbako, Xavier Johnson
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