More of the same?
Indiana faced just its fourth power conference opponent on the season when the Minnesota Gophers came to town for Indiana’s first Big Ten matchup.
The Gophers hadn’t beaten Indiana since 2019 entering today, and that streak continued with another Indiana win, 82-67. Indiana didn’t play a perfect game, but didn’t have to against the no. 111 team in Kenpom to get the 15 point victory tonight.
Perfect or not, there were some definite positives last night, including a balanced scoring attack that saw five players reach double digits, including Kanaan Carlyle and Bryson Tucker.
Indiana is in a spot right now where it needs wins however it can get them, so moving to 1-0 in conference play is another step in the right direction for a team that will have to build its tournament resume entirely in Big Ten play.
Here are three things we learned:
Bryson Tucker
Bryson Tucker turned in a career-high 16 points and six rebounds against Minnesota, doing so extremely efficiently in 20 minutes of play. He went 6-10 from the field and 4-6 from the charity stripe.
What stands out most about Tucker at this stage in his career is his ability to stay within his game. He isn’t forcing jumpers or taking threes when he has the ball kicked out to him. He’s using his size, strength, and athleticism to beat his defender one-on-one to the rim or elevating for a mid range jumper.
Despite being listed as a power forward, Tucker plays more like a guard within Indiana’s system, which allows him to play alongside two wings in Mackenzie Mgbako and Luke Goode without being redundant. This should lead to more minutes for him.
There will still be growing pains along the way, as there are for any freshman, but it’s good to see Tucker excel against high-major competition, even if it’s Minnesota.
Inconsistency
While the team has been able to win some by some lopsided margins, Indiana has yet to play a full 40 minutes of basketball through the first ten games. Last night’s game was yet another example of Indiana leaving meat on the bone against a vulnerable opponent.
The Hoosiers had their biggest lead of the night with 21 at the 9:21 mark in the second half. Had they been able to extend that lead to win by, say, 28 points, beating the Gophers could have been an early season statement.
When Louisville beat Indiana by 28 points, it leapt 19 spots in Kenpom and started receiving votes in the AP Top 25 poll. From a Kenpom perspective, Indiana’s best win was against South Carolina, which moved it up 8 spots, but losing to Gonzaga cost Indiana 22 spots in the national rankings.
That’s the difference between a tournament berth and another postseason on the sidelines.
Simply put, Indiana has to start taking advantage of these games and maximize the opportunities it has against less talented opponents. It is the only remaining path to a good seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Expectations
One of the reasons I’ve been so reliant on advanced statistics like Kenpom in evaluating this Indiana team is that I genuinely have no idea what to expect when the Hoosiers take the court.
This is on both a team and individual level. Take the two guard spot, for example. Coming into the season, we knew Trey Galloway and Kanaan Carlyle had their respective limitations, but it would have been hard to foresee just how inconsistent they’ve been.
Each have turned in two games of 0 points in double digits of playing time, while struggling with turnovers throughout the season. They’re also far from the only Hoosiers to be that inconsistent this year, making it hard to know who will step up to propel Indiana to victory on a given night.
Ultimately, the expectations are definitely lower than they were when Indiana started the season ranked and remained undefeated for a few weeks before the Battle 4 Atlantis. Beyond that, it’s hard to say what the ceiling and floor are for this team from here on out.