No. 14 Indiana men’s basketball suffered an 89-61 loss to the University of Louisville on Wednesday in the Imperial Ballroom on Paradise Island Atlantis in the Bahamas. The loss tied for the Hoosiers’ largest regular season defeat during head coach Mike Woodson’s four-year tenure.
The game marked the first of three for the Hoosiers in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, which presented Indiana with its best chance to build a nonconference resume.
Instead, the Hoosiers, whose only other nonconference game against a Power Four foe was an 87-71 victory over the University of South Carolina on Nov. 16, started the week with a loss in which they never led and trailed by double digits for the final 18:36 of the game.
Junior forward Malik Reneau led Indiana in scoring with 21 points, followed by sixth-year senior center Oumar Ballo’s 11 points. The Hoosiers’ three primary guards — redshirt sophomore Myles Rice, sophomore Kanaan Carlyle and fifth-year senior Trey Galloway — combined for 3 points, two assists and nine turnovers while shooting 1 for 15 from the field.
Indiana shot only 33.3% from the floor, a season-low, and 35% from distance.
Senior guard Chucky Hepburn and sixth-year senior forward Noah Waterman each had 16 points for Louisville, which made 10 triples and shot 56.9% from the field.
The Hoosiers trailed by 10 points on multiple occasions in the first half. Louisville carried a 37-29 halftime lead into the locker room, and Reneau and Ballo combined for 24 of Indiana’s 29 points. The Hoosiers failed to make a field goal over the final 5:43 of the first half.
Reneau made a layup on Indiana’s first possession of the second half, trimming the Hoosiers’ deficit to 6 points, but Louisville responded with an 11-0 run to extend its lead to 48-31.
The Hoosiers never recovered. Louisville’s lead grew as large as 38 points in the second half.
Indiana (4-1) returns to action at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the second round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Hoosiers will face the loser of the Wednesday afternoon game between West Virginia University and Gonzaga University. Thursday’s contest will be televised on ESPN2.
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.
