In a game where both teams were playing without their leading scorers, IU’s superior balance prevailed.
With its defense struggling, Indiana fell behind by seven midway through the first half. But a 22-8 run going into halftime, and a 13-4 start to the second gave the Hoosiers breathing room. The Scarlet Knights got to within six with 9:05 left, but never any closer as IU stretched the lead back out to double figures and held off Rutgers.
Let’s take a deeper look at how IU won 84-74 with our latest edition of The Report Card.
Indiana (11-3, 2-1) will travel to Philadelphia this weekend to face Penn State at the historic Palestra.
COACHING (B)
Mike Woodson probably soon realized he wasn’t going to have a good solution to stop Ace Bailey. But he kept searching for answers. Anthony Leal didn’t seem like an obvious choice to slow Bailey down, but Woodson saw something there. Bailey was held to three points over about a 19-minute stretch spanning halftime, and that’s when IU took control of the game. Woodson also threw some traps and plenty of help at Bailey.
Woodson went back to the same bench lineup that struggled to produce offense in both halves. The worst segments of both halves involved lineups mostly involving bench players. With that group struggling, shifts of three players or more probably should have been avoided.
Give Woodson credit for whatever happened over the last few days to keep his shooters in a positive mindset. Credit him for navigating the loss of Malik Reneau. And credit him for having answers to the Rutgers zone defense.
OFFENSE (B)
For much of the season we’ve written about Indiana’s efficiency from two and struggles from three. That script was flipped on Thursday as IU made a rather staggering 35.5% from two but 44.4% from three on 27 attempts. That performance came directly on the heels of a 1-of-20 effort from long range.
Probably the most encouraging aspect was that the Hoosiers didn’t let one bad shooting performance bleed into the next.
But as good as IU was from three, just as important was their dominance on the offensive glass. IU grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and scored 34 second chance points. Both the good shooting and the rebounding came in part due to Rutgers playing a zone.
“They played a lot of zones. It’s kind of hard to block out in zone situations. We were able to sneak guys in and get put-backs or kick it back out for threes,” Woodson said.
Also notable, a season low 10.7 turnover percentage. It all came together to offset a 38.9% overall shooting percentage from the field as IU scored 1.12 points per possession.
DEFENSE (C+)
Let’s face it, Indiana didn’t have a good answer for Ace Bailey. Few teams are going to be able to stop the almost certain one-and-done future NBA player, likely NBA star. He dropped 39 points, and IU caught a break that his partner-in-crime Dylan Harper, the fourth leading scorer in the nation, was out.
This was one of those don’t let anyone else beat you kind of games, and no one else really did for Rutgers as Bailey scored more than half of their points and no one else reached double figures.
Indiana didn’t allow the three-point shot to have a major impact on the game. And IU did a good job keeping Rutgers off the offensive glass. Their 18.9% offensive rebounding rate was the lowest by a high major against IU this year.
The Scarlet Knights scored .99 points per possession. Considering Rutgers was without their leading scorer, that figure was probably higher than it should have been. But Bailey’s dominance made it difficult to keep the Scarlet Knights completely in check.
MORE GAME COVERAGE
- Huge 3-point turnaround fueled IU men’s basketball’s win over Rutgers
- IU basketball: Woodson, Mgbako and Leal discuss win over Rutgers
- IU basketball: Indiana 84 Rutgers 74 — Three keys, highlights, final stats
- Malik Reneau injured vs. Rutgers, ruled out for rest of the game
THE PLAYERS (*starters)
*Mackenzie Mgbako (B+) The sophomore wing didn’t hesitate to keep shooting after a rough outing on Sunday. It wasn’t his most efficient day inside the arc. Mgbako rebounded well. Indiana’s best minutes were with him on the floor.
*Malik Reneau (n/a) He played in the game briefly and left with an injury.
*Myles Rice (B+) This may have been Rice’s best game as a Hoosier. It started on the defensive end, where he dove on the floor multiple times and came up with two steals. With room to operate, Rice created on the offensive end for himself and others. He only had one turnover and and went 8-of-8 at the stripe to put the game away.
*Trey Galloway (B+) A second straight game with high assists and low turnovers, Galloway seems to be getting into a groove. He made threes and rebounded as well. He was inefficient from two, including a stunning miss on a wide open layup.
*Luke Goode (B+) This was Goode at his best, making threes, battling for rebounds, scrapping. At least on the offensive end, this starting lineup seems better with him spacing the floor for Rice and Galloway.
Oumar Ballo (B+) The 7-footer was kept out of the starting lineup, and Woodson still won’t say whether that’s due to his health or a punishment. But Ballo responded with a massive 32 minutes when Reneau went down. The only nits are his free throw struggles and a couple times he didn’t run the floor.
Kanaan Carlyle (D-) While he got one three to go, Carlyle continues to look like an uncomfortable player who lacks confidence and aggression on offense. And he added a technical foul to his night.
Bryson Tucker (D-) The freshman couldn’t get anything going offensively, and that seemed to bother him and drag down the rest of his performance.
Anthony Leal (B+) Leal was given the difficult task of trying to slow down Bailey, and he did a really nice job with that. He also rebounded and facilitated. He was the lone positive from any otherwise disappointing bench effort.
Langdon Hatton (D-) Hatton struggled coming off his best performance as a Hoosier. He missed good looks, turned it over, and couldn’t stop Rutgers’ big man.
Dallas James did not play, coach’s decision.
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Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton are out long-term with injuries.
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