How IU basketball survived Army upset bid: Kel'el Ware the difference again
BLOOMINGTON — For the second straight game, IU had to sweat it out against a weaker nonconference opponent. The winless Army Black Knights gave the Hoosiers all they could handle in what ended in a 72-64 IU victory Sunday in Assembly Hall.
Here are three reasons why:
Indiana vs. Army player ratings:Kel'el Ware impresses again, bench struggles
Not enough points in transition
IU did not score a fastbreak point in the first half against Army and ended the night with only four transition points.
This team is the most athletic group coach Mike Woodson has had in his three-year tenure. For some reason, it didn’t run the floor nearly enough against a pretty small Army team.
When you see the likes of 6-8 Mackenzie Mgbako, 6-9 Malik Reneau and 7-0 Kel’el Ware in a starting lineup alongside Xavier Johnson and Trey Galloway — two fast guards — you expect a lot of work to be done in transition. Instead, this team has been bogged down into slow-paced games that have played into opponents’ hands.
It would be one thing if IU had a surefire No. 1 offensive option to lean on. But this unit doesn’t have that. The Hoosiers often look directionless when running halfcourt offense.
This is a team that needs to rely on fastbreaks much more than it has in the first two games of the year. The dagger on Sunday came when Ware deflected a pass, ran the floor and slammed home an alley-oop from Galloway. Plays like that need to be more commonplace for the Hoosiers going forward.
Kel’el Ware continues to perform well
Coming into the season, Kel’el Ware had more doubters than any Indiana newcomer. While the Oregon transfer was advertised as one of the top players to enter the transfer portal, many were concerned Ware only averaged 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a freshman in Eugene.
Ware recorded 13 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in his Hoosiers debut against Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday. He followed that game with another strong outing. Ware led IU with 20 points to go with his six rebounds on Sunday.
With center Trayce Jackson-Davis moving on, Indiana needed someone to replace some of his production down low. Ware isn’t the automatic scoring option Jackson-Davis was, but the former five-star prospect is doing everything Indiana needs him to do.
Ware has scored when close to the basket, been IU’s best rebounder in both games, protected the rim well and has shown passing chops. If Ware had decided to transfer elsewhere, there’s a good chance the Hoosiers would be 0-2 right now.
The 3-point disparity continues to matter
Neither Army nor Indiana shot the ball extremely well from beyond the arc on Sunday. But one team attempted 38 3s while the other shot 11.
Army was 13-of-38 from deep and Indiana was 4-of-11. The difference in 3s taken let Army hang around in this game.
Of course, teams can win a lot of games without hoisting 3-point shots. But it’s hard to consistently win when your team doesn’t take a lot of 3s and consistently gives up an abundance of quality looks to its opponent.
Indiana either needs to buckle up its 3-point defense or start firing away itself. Given what we’ve seen from IU in the post-Tom Crean era, the former seems more realistic.
The Hoosiers constantly overhelp and allow decent looks. If this team — which is already offensively challenged — wants to compete against the cream of the crop this year, it has to improve its perimeter defense.
Indiana basketball stats vs. Army
Indiana 72, Army 64
ARMY (0-3): Peterson 3-9 2-4 9, Scovens 3-9 0-0 8, Barker 5-13 1-2 14, Curry 8-13 0-0 20, Davis 1-3 0-0 2, Cross 1-6 0-0 3, A.Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Small 1-6 0-0 3, Blair 1-1 0-0 3, Allenspach 1-1 0-3 2. Totals 24-61 3-9 64.
INDIANA (2-0): Mgbako 1-2 0-0 2, Reneau 4-8 6-7 14, Ware 9-11 2-3 20, Galloway 2-3 1-3 5, X.Johnson 4-8 9-9 19, Cupps 2-5 0-0 5, Banks 1-1 0-0 3, Gunn 0-2 0-0 0, Sparks 1-2 0-0 2, Walker 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-43 18-22 72.
Halftime—Indiana 32-31. 3-Point Goals_Army 13-38 (Curry 4-8, Barker 3-9, Scovens 2-6, Blair 1-1, Cross 1-4, Small 1-4, Peterson 1-5, Davis 0-1), Indiana 4-11 (X.Johnson 2-4, Banks 1-1, Cupps 1-4, Gunn 0-1, Reneau 0-1). Rebounds_Army 22 (Scovens 5), Indiana 25 (Reneau 7). Assists_Army 16 (Curry 4), Indiana 16 (Reneau, X.Johnson 5). Total Fouls_Army 22, Indiana 14. A_17,222 (17,222).