Recap: Indiana cruises over Marian in exhibition finale, 94-61
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana closed out exhibition play on Friday night with a 94-61 victory over the Marian Knights (NAIA) inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Contrary to the first exhibition last Sunday, the Hoosiers came out with much more intention and energy on both sides of the floor, dictating the pace of the game early and forcing Marian into uncomfort on offense. Although the looks didn’t fall for IU early, the Hoosiers jumped out to a double-digit lead just six minutes into the contest and held the Knights at arm’s reach for the remainder of the evening.
Utilizing their length and athleticism advantage over the Knights, the Hoosiers ran in transition with comfort and forced multiple Marian turnovers and forced their opposition to operate their offense on the perimeter. The Knights were more than comfortable to do so in the first half, scoring 27 of their 35 first half points from beyond the arc.
Indiana, however, controlled the contest at the intermission, going into the break with a 49-35 lead.
The Hoosiers would go on to cruise to victory in the second half, building off the strong foundation they’d laid in the first half. The Hoosiers quickly ballooned their halftime advantage to 25 points at the first media timeout of the half, and held around a 30-point advantage for the remainder of the evening.
The Hoosiers’ defense settled and completely disrupted the Knights offense, limiting Marian to just 26 points in the second half. After shooting 9-of-20 from distance in the first 20 minutes and scoring 1.061 points per possession, Marian shot 2-14 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Sophomore Kel’el Ware led the Hoosiers with 20 points on 8-13 shooting from the field. Freshman Mackenzie Mgbako added 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field – 3-of-4 from three – and Malik Reneau finished with 14 points despite dealing with foul trouble for most of the second half. The starting frontcourt and wing combined to shoot 6-10 from three on the night.
Overall, Indiana shot 32-61 from the field and 9-17 from three. IU shot 21-25 from the free throw line.
Full Box Score
A night filled with emotion, the Hoosiers paced the visitors as tributes to Bob Knight came often throughout the night.
The night started with a long tribute video highlighting some of the best moments from Knight’s tenure. The traditional Martha the Mop Lady video that is program tradition to play before each game was swapped out for the version featuring Knight.
Then, a powerful moment of silence followed. At the half, the videoboard helped relive the moment Knight returned to Assembly Hall nearly four years ago. Teary eyes became evident throughout the stands as a standing ovation and chants of “Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!” followed.
It was the men’s program’s first game since his passing on earlier this week.
Next up, the games begin to count. Indiana opens the regular season in non-conference action versus Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday, November 7. Tip off is set for 6:30 p.m. on BTN.
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