Indiana

The Minute After: FGCU

Published

1 year ago

November 8, 2023

Thoughts on a 69-63 win against the Eagles:

Mike Woodson wasn’t afraid to schedule stronger opponents for guarantee games this season. And with his Hoosiers still very much finding their way early on, you get a result like tonight … one that was too close for comfort, Pat Chambers and crew nearly leaving Bloomington with the upset.

Indiana was in a bad spot with 10:54 to go. The Hoosiers trailed by six, 48-42, after a made 3-pointer by Dallion Johnson. Woodson called timeout. Out came CJ Gunn, who Woody immediately ripped in the huddle, after some poor defense by the sophomore led to the 3-pointer. In came Xavier Johnson.

Johnson, along with a lineup featuring Gabe Cupps, Trey Galloway, Kel’el Ware and Malik Reneau, saved the day. Reneau went to work down low, immediately scoring on an and-1 to cut the lead to three. Ware and Galloway then trapped the ball near FGCU’s bench, Ware ripping it free. He passed it ahead to Johnson, who took it down the court and scored, cutting the lead to one. It kept going from there. Galloway scored a second-chance bucket. Johnson hit a 3-pointer. Ware scored down low. Reneau got fouled and hit two free throws.

On the other end, Indiana’s defense ratcheted up several notches after looking leaky, allowing too many drives to the paint and too many open shooters. The Hoosiers fed off the crowd and applied pressure. Cupps did Cupps things, swatting at the ball for a steal off Rahmir Barno. It was all part of a 14-0 run, Indiana turning a six-point deficit into an eight-point lead in about four minutes of game time.

Cupps later drilled a 3-pointer with 3:58 to play to put the Hoosiers up 11, which would be their largest lead of the night.

“He’s a winner,” Woodson said of Cupps after the game. ” … I felt comfortable enough with Gabe in the game. I’ve seen him play enough. He’s capable of hanging in there and making basketball plays. I thought he was tremendous on both ends.”

The Eagles did not go quietly, though. A Zach Anderson 3-pointer with 1:10 to go cut Indiana’s lead to seven. Anderson then hit another 3-pointer after the Eagles stole Indiana’s inbounds pass from Reneau. Four-point game. After Reneau missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Keeshawn Kellman scored down low for FGCU to cut the lead to just two with 35 seconds to play. But the Hoosiers were able to hit 4-of-6 from the charity stripe between Johnson and Ware to keep this one out of reach and land on a six-point victory.

Indiana’s half-court offense still lacks identity and alignment. And with the Hoosiers only managing nine points on the break, they couldn’t get as many easy buckets in transition tonight as they did in the exhibition contests. But Indiana’s size and length helped make up for it some and the Eagles couldn’t help but keep fouling. Indiana had a 67 percent free throw rate, attempting 30 from the line against 45 field goals. A better night than just 19-of-30 (63.3 percent) might have had Indiana breathing easier in this one.

On defense, Indiana did hold the Eagles to under a point per possession (.98) and just 63 points, which you’ll take most nights. Still, its defensive rotations stung them on several occasions and Woodson knew it post game.

“We hold ’em to 63 points and that’s in the ballpark of where we want to be from a defensive standpoint,” he said. “But it was all the miscues on the backside of our defense we weren’t executing. I gotta get that fixed and clean it up.”

Ware was a menace in this one. Thirteen points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals. His three blocks came in emphatic fashion in the first half. The rebounds, blocks, steals and assists all led the team. Galloway led all Indiana scorers with 16 points on an efficient 7-of-9 mark. Ten of those points came in the second half. Johnson (5-of-9) had 14 of his own and scored 10 in the second half.

Credit Chambers and the Eagles for coming into Assembly Hall without their injured starting point guard Isaiah Thompson and playing Indiana well regardless. Credit Indiana for finding some gumption down the stretch, playing defense and snatching this game back when things looked lost.

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Indiana

Teen struck, killed by train in Northwest Indiana

Published

27 minutes ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

Teen struck, killed by train in Northwest Indiana – CBS Chicago

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The 15-year-old was hit by a train at a crossing in Chesterton.

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Indiana

Pacers Injury Report: Crucial Indiana Forward Remains Out vs Cavaliers

Published

12 hours ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

Pacers Injury Report: Crucial Indiana Forward Remains Out vs Cavaliers

The Indiana Pacers have slowly but surely started to get healthy this season. After losing both backup centers, a starting guard, a starting forward, and a reserve guard to injuries, they have mostly gotten back to being healthy.

These injuries were the primary reason why the Pacers started out just 6-10 on the season. They weren’t able to win games with regularity because they didn’t have any continuity in the lineup.

Now that they do have continuity, the Pacers are playing much better basketball. They have won five straight games as well as 11 of their last 14.

More Pacers: Pacers’ Andrew Nembhard Explains Why Young Players Need to Follow Pascal Siakam

As healthy as they are right now, there is still one player who continues to be out. That is starting small forward Aaron Nesmith.

Nesmith has played in just six games this season due to a severe ankle sprain that he suffered. He has been slowly working his way back to the court.

As the Pacers get ready to face the best team in the NBA, Nesmith remains out. He is the only player who is in the rotation listed on the injury report for the Pacers.

There is still no firm timetable for his return. All Rick Carlisle will say when he is asked about Nesmith is that he is making progress.

Read more: Pacers’ Johnny Furphy Makes Case for More NBA Time With Dominant G League Performance

Nesmith has been a crucial player for the Indiana Pacers, especially last season. He emerged as their best perimeter defender and one of their best 3-point shooters.

Indiana has back-to-back games against the Cavs coming up. This will be a great litmus test for them to determine if they need to make a big move at the trade deadline or if they can stand pat.

Because he has been hurt for most of the season, there’s a chance that Nesmith could be in a trade package for the right player. Any move the Pacers would make would likely be closer to the deadline.

Aaron Nesmith is averaging 9.2 points, four rebounds, and one assist this season. He’s also shooting 52.8 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from beyond the 3-point line.

More Indiana Pacers news: Pacers Must Go All In Ahead of Trade Deadline Following Strong 14-Game Run

Pacers ‘Recently Held Trade Discussions’ for Rival Star Forward: Report

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Indiana

The Minute After: Iowa

Published

23 hours ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

The Minute After: Iowa

Thoughts on an 85-60 loss to Iowa:

Iowa City is a long way from the Bahamas.

But tonight’s game from Indiana could have fit right into its Battle 4 Atlantis performance.

As Iowa began to pull away early in the second half, the Hoosiers completely folded. They failed to compete. The body language was poor. They couldn’t defend. They couldn’t score. They looked like a team that had given up.

Iowa got up by as much as 30 before settling on a 25-point victory. That 25-point defeat for the Hoosiers? It’s the largest loss during regular season Big Ten play in the Mike Woodson era.

Iowa entered this game 121st on KenPom in adjusted defensive efficiency but held Indiana to just .83 points per possession tonight. That’s Indiana’s lowest output of the season. The previous low? The .85 points per possession it scored against Louisville in the Bahamas.

The Hoosiers have played well against zone defense this season, but that wasn’t the case tonight. Iowa’s 2-3 zone turned them into jump shooters. The Hoosiers just couldn’t find a consistent rhythm against it. On paper, Indiana entered this one as the far superior rebounding team. It’s an area that’s helped the Hoosiers succeed during their three-game conference winning streak. But the Hawkeyes snagged 29 percent of their offensive rebounds tonight, while the Hoosiers rebounded just 24 percent.

Iowa also absolutely feasted off Indiana’s 16 turnovers. The Hawkeyes scored 24 points off turnovers on a night the Hoosiers turned the ball over on 22 percent of their possessions. Indiana was particularly poor with the ball in the first half and entered the locker room turning it over on 32 percent of its possessions.

Oumar Ballo had a rough start. Iowa doubled him from the get-go and Owen Freeman poked at him, too. The Arizona transfer had four turnovers by the 14:38 mark in the first half when he was yanked from the game by Woodson. Ballo has been a dominant force for Indiana of late. And while he still posted a double-double — 10 points, 13 rebounds — Freeman bested him tonight. The sophomore can play out on the perimeter and his quickness and array of moves made him a tough matchup for the bigger Ballo. Freeman finished with 16 points (8-of-13) and 12 boards. He also defended the paint well, racking up a game-high four blocks while also adding three steals. Ballo didn’t block a shot this evening.

Mackenzie Mgbako played only 16 minutes and scored six points. He’s 2-of-14 from the floor over his last two games.

Iowa hit 11-of-24 (46 percent) from 3-point range. Indiana made just 4-of-16 (25 percent). After heating up in the second half, Payton Sandfort led all scorers with 23 points.

“When you go out on the road in the Big Ten, you can’t turn it over, you gotta rebound with your opponent and you gotta make shots,” Woodson said after the game. “We failed in all three areas tonight.”

Fail Indiana did tonight. The start of its toughest stretch of the season was a disaster. With better teams just over the horizon, the Hoosiers need to forget about this one and not let it affect them.

We’ll soon see how they respond with the Illini coming to Bloomington for a Tuesday night bout.

(Photo credit: Big Ten Basketball on X)

Filed to: Iowa Hawkeyes

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