As Bryson Tucker ran back on defense, he turned his head toward Indiana men’s basketball’s bench and emphatically swung his right arm.
The Hoosiers’ freshman forward connected on a mid-range jumper from the left baseline, pushing his tally to 17 points while extending the No. 17 Hoosiers’ lead over Marian to 83-39 just inside of 10 minutes to play in Friday night’s game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Tucker’s jumper capped a stretch where he scored 7 points in 2:18, perhaps the highlight of his team-best 19-point performance in the Hoosiers’ 106-64 victory.
But Tucker’s performance was hardly surprising. Indiana head coach Mike Woodson has often touted his lone true freshman in the lead-up to the season, going as far as comparing him to former Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jalen Hood-Schifino.
And even in his impressive debut in front of the Hoosier faithful, Tucker still has plenty of room to grow in Woodson’s eyes.
“He's a young freshman that has got a nice skillset and especially on both ends of the floor,” Woodson said postgame. “He's long and athletic and he handles the ball. He can score the ball. He can do a lot of things. But he's got to learn the college game, and he's young at it right now and we've just got to keep pushing him in the right direction.”
Tucker was the first player off Indiana’s bench, replacing fifth-year senior guard Trey Galloway nearly four and a half minutes into the first half. The 6-foot-7, 207-pound Tucker made a pair of mid-range jumpers within his first three minutes on the court.
He caught multiple lobs, one from redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice and another from senior forward Luke Goode, and dished a handful of impressive passes, headlined by a behind-the-back dime to Goode.
Tucker finished with three rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes, but his scoring — which was enabled by a 9-for-12 shooting performance from the field — stole the show.
“He's just a scorer at heart,” sophomore guard Gabe Cupps said postgame. “He's always trying to get a bucket and just his confidence. He plays with the ease and flow that's very rare for somebody as a freshman coming in. So, the sky is the limit for Tuck. I think he can do whatever he sets his mind so to.”
Tucker, however, wasn’t the Hoosiers’ lone offensive standout — four others scored double figures.
In the post, junior forward Malik Reneau and sixth-year senior center Oumar Ballo combined for 34 points on 15-of-16 shooting. Sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako and senior center Langdon Hatton each added 10 points.
Woodson expressed pleasure postgame in his team’s defense, which held Marian to 36.6% shooting from the field and 30.8% from distance. Indiana out-rebounded Marian, 48-28, and the Hoosiers had 33 assists to just 10 turnovers.
Still, Indiana fell victim to an issue it grew familiar with last season: 3-point shooting.
The Hoosiers, who ranked third worst in the Big Ten last season after hitting just 32.4% of their triples, went only 6 for 25 on Friday night. Indiana’s shooters were 4 for 19 from distance against the University of Tennessee in the exhibition opener Oct. 27.
Woodson noted the Hoosiers shot the ball well from inside the arc, going 40 for 45, but their struggles from beyond the arc were noticeable. Woodson said Indiana had plenty of looks and will continue shooting, trusting the shots will eventually go in — after all, they have been in practice, he said.
For now, however, Woodson knows the Hoosiers need to be better.
“We're not shooting the ball well right now from the 3-point line, and that's kind of disturbing,” Woodson said. “But I'm not going to harp on it because we’re getting them up, and coming into the Tennessee game and this game, we had been shooting the 3-ball really well.”
Woodson added Indiana simply needs to keep working and see where the results lead. Cupps is confident those results will be plentiful.
“I'm not concerned with it,” Cupps said about the Hoosiers’ shooting struggles. “We have great shooters on the team. We are going to make shots. We trust it. Coaches trust it. Those are going to fall. We know it will.”
The Hoosiers lacked their full arsenal Friday night, as fifth-year senior guard Anthony Leal and sophomore guard Kanaan Carlyle did not play. Carlyle suffered bruised ribs against Tennessee and is being nursed back, Woodson said, while Leal’s injury is undisclosed.
Yet even without its complete deck, Indiana received points from 13 different players en route to its highest scoring total since a 110-point effort in double overtime loss against Syracuse University on Nov. 30, 2021.
And for that, Woodson exited Assembly Hall optimistic about the season ahead — which begins against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville at 8 p.m. Nov. 6 in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
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.
