There was plenty to like about Indiana’s season-opening 98-51 win over Alabama A&M Wednesday evening in Bloomington. The Hoosiers were elite on both ends ends of the floor against a team they should have dominated.
And recently, that hasn’t always been something that could be taken for granted.
Archie Miller opened his IU tenure with a 90-69 home loss to Indiana State, and fell again weeks later at home by 20 to Fort Wayne.
Mike Woodson’s start at IU wasn’t that bad, but his first game as head coach saw Indiana only leading Eastern Michigan by two points with less than a minute remaining. And in each succeeding season, Woodson’s Hoosiers struggled to pull away from low and mid-major teams, something that significantly tarnished their NCAA Tournament resume.
How much value should we place on Indiana’s 47-point win in Darian DeVries’ debut as head coach?
We won’t have to wait long to find out.
While Woodson’s teams struggled against teams they should have dominated, they often were exposed against fellow high-majors teams on neutral courts.
Last year’s trip to the Bahamas was the beginning of the end for Woodson when IU lost by 28 to Louisville and 16 to Gonzaga to kick off the Battle 4 Atlantis. Neither game was as close as the final scores suggest. The year before that Indiana lost by 20 to UConn and 28 to Auburn on neutral floors, and they lost by 14 to Arizona in Las Vegas in 2022.
Neutral court games against high-major opponents offer quality preparation for the NCAA Tournament stage, and thus a great indicator of whether a team is worthy of the Big Dance in March.
Indiana has two massive tests on neutral floors coming in the next month — beginning this Sunday in Chicago when they face Marquette (2-0).
Now in his fifth season with the Golden Eagles, head coach Shaka Smart will test Indiana with his team’s aggressive style of play on the defensive end. Each of the last three years they’ve been in the top-20 nationally in the amount of opposing possessions that result in turnovers.
Smart only has 50% minutes continuity year-over-year according to KenPom, which still somehow ranks 11th in the country in this transfer portal era.
But gone are the three players from last season with the highest usage rates and scoring averages — Kam Jones, David Joplin and Stevie Mitchell.
Marquette “promotes from within” rather than utilizing the transfer portal, and they’ve still got plenty of returning players familiar with Smart’s system. And their defense is still a problem. They’ve forced 36 turnovers in their first two games against low-major foes of their own.
Indiana did test themselves during the exhibition schedule by playing a Baylor team with length and athleticism that approximates what they’ll see Sunday at the United Center.
DeVries knows the challenge will be substantially greater than what the Hoosiers faced against Alabama A&M.
“We certainly understand that Sunday is going to be different, so we’ve got plenty to work on, plenty to continue to improve. But I like this group in that regard. They’re all eager to get better. They just want to win. That’s what makes this group fun to coach.”
One key question is how Indiana’s key mid-major transfers will perform against high-major competition. They’ll have to be better than they were a year ago against the best of the best.
Last year with Davidson Reed Bailey played three games against top-50 teams and shot just 10 of 36 from the field and posted an assist rate much lower than his average in those games. But Bailey’s defensive rebounding rate was at its best against the top-50.
Tayton Conerway made just 12 of 45 shots in four games for Troy against the top-50, and his steal and assist rates were below average in those contests.
And Lamar Wilkerson’s shooting numbers with Sam Houston dropped off against the top-50 as well, although not as dramatically. He made 46.4% from two and 33.3% from three in four top-50 games, while his turnover rate rose.
Indiana and Marquette tip Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (ESPN) in Chicago.
For complete coverage of IU basketball, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- You can follow us on X: @daily_hoosier and find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
