It wasn’t perfect, but it was necessary.
After failing to provide any challenge to the University of Louisville and No. 3 Gonzaga University in back-to-back contests, No. 14 Indiana men’s basketball needed a bounce back effort against Providence College. Given the Friars had a late game the night before, beginning at 7:30 p.m., the 11:00 a.m. tip off only favored the Hoosiers.
At times, Indiana played as well as it had all year –– drilling 3-pointers, hounding opposition ballhandlers and hustling.
But at other times, the Hoosiers reverted to their play from the previous two games –– leaving Providence shooters open on the perimeter, giving up offensive rebounds and looking lost on defense.
Ultimately, Indiana’s good outweighed the bad as it repelled multiple Providence comebacks en route to an 89-73 victory over the Friars on Friday at the Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas. The win gave the Hoosiers a seventh-place finish in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament.
In a weekend filled with disappointment and frustration, a win was all Indiana needed to somewhat salvage a very poor showing at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. Even with the victory, the Hoosiers must feel unsatisfied with quality wins left at the table in what is their only true nonconference competition in an otherwise easy slate.
For the first time all week, the Hoosiers offense was humming.
Mackenzie Mgbako led all scorers with 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting and 4 for 7 from behind the arc. Whether contested or open, 3-pointers or mid-range, the sophomore forward was getting anything and everything he wanted against Providence.
Considering his output of 13, 8 and 9 points in the previous three games, all contests in which Indiana struggled, Mgbako has shown he is the most important offensive contributor. His plus/minus of 19 led the Hoosiers in his 34 minutes of action, the most he has played this season, and head coach Mike Woodson recognized Mgbako’s importance, running off-ball screens to get him the ball throughout the game.
While Mgbako will lead the headlines, it cannot be overstated the importance of Trey Galloway’s performance for Indiana. The fifth-year senior guard secured 18 points, five rebounds and five assists in his best display this season.
College basketball is guard-oriented, and Indiana’s guards did not perform against Louisville or Gonzaga. Galloway, redshirt sophomore Myles Rice and sophomore Kanaan Carlyle combined for 19 points, 11 assists and 12 turnovers while shooting 7 for 37.
That was not good enough. Seeing Galloway’s response to the poor play is certainly encouraging, and Indiana needs him to continue to string together quality performances as the season progresses.
Conversely, Rice’s struggles persisted into Friday. The Washington State University transfer registered 2 points on 1-for-8 shooting, a rough final outing to finish a less-than-stellar stretch of games in the Bahamas.
“Miles is a tough kid,” Woodson said postgame. “We’ll go home and regroup, and we’ll get him back going because he’s a major, major piece to the puzzle.”
For all its positives on the offensive side of the court, Indiana’s woes on the defensive side of the court remained an issue. The Hoosiers allowed 17 offensive rebounds, with one even coming off a Friar missed free throw. Perimeter defense was another one of their defensive pitfalls, as the Hoosiers consistently left Providence open on 3-point attempts.
In the second half, one play featured both issues. Mgbako failed to step out to cover junior guard Jayden Pierre, and while his first attempt missed, the Friar got his own rebound and drilled the open corner 3.
Providence’s 3-point shooting didn’t end up hurting Indiana, finishing 10 for 30 from behind the arc. But against better perimeter shooting teams, the Hoosiers will suffer greatly if they don’t fix the issue.
Those teams won’t necessarily be arriving anytime soon, as Indiana’s first two Big Ten foes are Nebraska and Minnesota, two teams ranked in the bottom three in the conference for 3-point percentage.
But those teams will come, whether it’s Ohio State, Purdue or Michigan. The perimeter defensive miscues won’t cut it against the top of the Big Ten, and with no nonconference marquee victories, those games will be all Indiana can count on for its resume come March.
However, sustaining offensive success through Mgbako and the guards, whether it be Galloway, Rice or Carlyle, is just as important. Indiana needs consistency, and a response following a brutal Battle 4 Atlantis is necessary for the Hoosiers.
“We’ll continue to practice and work hard,” Woodson said. “We got to get our guys playing at that level (of Louisville and Gonzaga), because we do, then we can put ourselves in position to beat really good teams.”
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa) and columnist Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
