Indiana basketball opened up its conference schedule with a Monday night tilt with the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The Hoosiers struggled to settle in defensively, but the offense picked up the slack, scoring 44 first-half points as the team entered the locker room with a 13-point advantage.
The second-half was back and forth, but the lead didn't dip below a bakers dozen the entire half as the Hoosiers coasted to a 82-67 victory.
With the win, Indiana is 8-2 and 1-0 in Big Ten play and will head to Lincoln to take on Nebraska on Friday night.
Here's how it happened on a pleasant Monday evening in Bloomington.
TUCKER BOUNCES BACK
After a scoreless outing on Friday against Miami (OH), freshman Bryson Tucker broke out in a big way, scoring 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
The freshman scored 11 points in only 8 first-half minutes, providing a spark in a dominant first twenty minutes for Indiana.
Tucker used athleticism to blow by defenders, but rather than pulling up for jump shots, the Bowie, Maryland native continued downhill momentum for easy buckets inside.
The 16-point outburst marks a new career-high for Tucker and was one of five Hoosiers to amass double figures.
HOOSIERS DOMINATE DOWN LOW
Indiana had a considerable height advantage against Minnesota on Monday evening, and the Hoosiers used it to its advantage, scoring 42 points in the paint.
Both Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo reached double figures as it was a focal point for Indiana to get the ball to the bigs.
The Hoosiers won the rebounding battle 35-22, hauling in a dozen offensive boards in the victory.
Ballo and Reneau had a matchup nightmare with Dawson Garcia being an athletic big that could also hit the outside jumper. Garcia finished with 20 points, but the Indiana bigs handled it well enough to secure a victory.
INDIANA SHOOTS EFFECIENTLY
In its post-Bahamas games, Indiana had an offensive resurgence, taking and making high percentage looks. Monday night was no different as the Hoosiers shot 60% from the field.
Of the 27 shots Indiana made, 24 of them were two-point attempts. The Hoosiers finished an impressive 67% from inside the arc.
Indiana has left no doubt in the early season that they are going to dominate the paint and play inside the arc, but consistently making the three-point shot could go a long way for Indiana's chances in conference play.
Every game will be different, but shooting better than 50% from the field will win Indiana a lot of games this season.
FINAL STATS
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