When senior forward Anthony Walker knocked down a jumper from the left corner, he extended Indiana’s second-half lead to 81-71 over Kennesaw State University.
The made 2-pointer was Walker’s second in as many possessions and followed a right-wing 3-pointer from sophomore forward Kaleb Banks, whose shot was preceded by senior guard Anthony Leal’s made layup.
In the span of four possessions, the Hoosiers went from holding a narrow 74-71 lead to a convincing 10-point advantage, sparked by three different players – each of whom came off the bench and rank outside the top five amongst Indiana’s leading scorers.
The Hoosiers (10-3) never looked back, sprinting past the Owls (9-5) en route to a 100-87 victory Friday night inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall – all without sophomore center Kel’el Ware, who began the night as Indiana’s leading scorer but didn’t play due to an illness.
Malik Reneau fittingly did the honors of giving Indiana its first 100-point outing since Nov. 10, 2022, as the sophomore forward hit a free throw with 23 seconds left to break the century mark.
Reneau followed up his career-best 25 points in Indiana’s Dec. 21 victory over North Alabama University with an even better performance, posting 34 points on 13-of-19 shooting while adding 11 rebounds, giving him his first double-double of the season.
As a freshman, Reneau scored double figures in just seven of 35 games. Now 13 games into his sophomore campaign, the Miami, Florida, native has overtaken Ware and leads the Hoosiers in scoring at 16.2 points per game – and Indiana head coach Mike Woodson believes he’s just scratching the surface.
“He's getting better,” Woodson said postgame. “Everybody talks about development and who is being developed. Malik, based on where he started with us last season and where he is today, he's a lot better. And I think there's a lot of room still to grow as a player.”
The Hoosiers stormed out of the gates, taking an 18-8 lead at the under-16 timeout behind four 3-pointers from freshman forward Mackenzie Mgbako. They made 11 of their first 13 field goals with eight assists to accompany the hot start from the field.
Indiana tallied 20 assists, tying the mark set in wins over Wright State University and Harvard University for its second-most this season, with senior guard Trey Galloway dishing out seven. The Hoosiers set a season-high last time out with 25 assists, and Friday night served as the continuation of improved passing and ball movement.
But perhaps the biggest takeaway is this: Indiana’s offense continues to unlock more upside, as it’s significantly improved from 3-point range and has received secondary contributions from new players each game.
Against the Owls, Indiana saw a pair of players – Banks and junior forward Payton Sparks – score in double figures for the first time this season, as the former posted a career-high 12 points while the latter notched 10 points.
Sparks, who transferred to Indiana from Ball State University this past spring, was the primary beneficiary of Ware’s absence, playing a season-high 14 minutes and pulling down eight rebounds to go along with his scoring effort.
Woodson used terms like special and tremendous to describe Sparks’ outing.
“As a coach, I'm anxious to see if he's ready to play because he hadn't played big minutes,” Woodson said. “And he only played 14 minutes tonight, but I thought they were a positive 14 minutes to help us win a basketball game. That tells me a lot about him in terms of being ready to play. He was ready and he stepped in and gave us a major lift.”
The Hoosiers had nine different players score, and six of them scored 10 or more points. Most encouraging is three of those six – Sparks, Banks and Walker – are often second-unit players, speaking to the progress made within Indiana’s depth throughout this season.
When senior guard Xavier Johnson returns from a foot injury that’s cost him the last month, this second unit figures to be even stronger, as freshman guard Gabe Cupps will return to his spot off the bench, well-equipped with starting experience.
It’s possible Leal won’t see any minutes once Johnson is back, but the Bloomington native stated his case for playing time Friday, helping spark Indiana’s second-half push with energy and strong defensive play.
“He's been really good in practice, and he deserves to probably play a little bit more because he is playing well,” Woodson said of Leal. “And I thought tonight he came in and gave us the boost that we needed. So, we'll continue to keep our eyes on Anthony and see where we go with him.”
Woodson said following Indiana’s exhibition win over the University of Indianapolis on Oct. 29 he hoped to be able to have a rotation of nine or 10 players.
With nonconference play ending and the Hoosiers entering their full Big Ten schedule Jan. 3 against Nebraska, Woodson’s wish appears to have come true, as Indiana saw nine players take the court Friday with Johnson and Ware still on the shelf.
When the duo returns, the Hoosiers’ offense should reach another level – a scary thought after a 100-point outing over an Owls squad that made the NCAA Tournament last season.
“We knew we were going to be able to get open shots, open roads,” Reneau said. “All we had to do was execute, get it to both sides of the floor. They'll eventually give up on defense and we'll be able to create wide-open shots. And we were doing that the whole game.”
Follow reporters Will Foley (@foles24) and Matt Press (@MattPress23) and columnist Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
