No. 14 Indiana took on No. 3 Gonzaga in the second round of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Thursday afternoon. After both teams were defeated on Wednesday in the opening round of the tournament, both the Hoosiers and the Bulldogs were looking for bounce back performances.
On Thanksgiving, it was Gonzaga the pulled away late in the first half half to come away with the 89-73 win.
Here's how it happened in The Bahamas.
INDIANA MUCH MORE ENERGIZED TO START
All eyes were on the Hoosiers entering Thursday afternoon's matchup. After looking disorganized and getting clobbered by Louisville to open the Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday, Indiana needed to put together a much better performance on Thanksgiving against Gonzaga.
After the Bulldogs got out to a strong start, opening up a 13-3 lead over the first three and a half minutes of the game, Myles Rice was benched, in favor of Trey Galloway.
While Galloway wasn't super impactful in the when he checked into the game, the Hoosiers showed some fight to battle back into the game. Following the poor start to the game, Indiana went on a 15-3 run over the next three minutes of the game to take the lead at 18-16.
The charge back into the game spearheaded by Oumar Ballo in the first half for the Hoosiers, as the Bulldogs looked clueless on how to stop the Indiana big man. Kanaan Carlyle provided some much-needed energy for the Hoosiers throughout the stretch as well.
Ballo totaled 19 first half points, shooting 8-for-9 from the floor. He dominated in the paint on both ends of the floor.
POOR CLOSE TO FIRST HALF
After Indiana took its first, and only, lead of the game at 18-16 with 13:15 to go in the first half, Gonzaga closed the half on a 41-21 run. That strong close to the first half included 16-0 run from the 8:11 mark to the 3:15 mark.
The energy began to peter out for the Hoosiers as the half dragged on, as the Bulldogs continued to dominate in the painted area. Indiana, a team that starts two non-shooting bigs in Ballo and Malik Reneau, was dominated on the inside in the first half. Gonzaga outscored Indiana 36-14 in points in the paint in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Ballo was the only source of offense for Indiana in the first half. Hoosiers outside of Ballo combined for 20 of Indiana's 39 first half points, going just 4-of-22 from the field.
Another big issue for Indiana in the first half was that Gonzaga dominated on the glass. The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Hoosier 26-13 in the first period. Gonzaga scored 17 second chance points in the first half, compared to just three for the Hoosiers.
After getting out to a slow start, Indiana was able to battle back into the game early on in the first half. However, the Hoosiers couldn't sustain that level of play for the entire first half, sputtering out as the half went on. As a result, Gonzaga took a commanding 57-39 lead into the halftime intermission.
GONZAGA KEEPS INDIANA AT ARM'S LENGTH IN SECOND HALF
The second half was more of the same for Indiana. The Hoosiers got the game back to within 15 points at around the halfway point of the second half, but the damage had already been done.
While it wasn't a pretty game, in large part due to the endless foul calls, the Hoosiers remained competitive in the second half, outscoring the Bulldogs 34-32 throughout the final 20 minutes. The second half was back-and-forth for the most part.
Indiana was better on the glass, only getting out-rebounded 16-14 in the second half. The Hoosiers allowed just six second chance points in the second period as well.
Following a 0-point, 0-for-2 first half, Myles Rice was slightly better in the second half. He scored all six of his points in the second period. After Hoosiers not named Ballo were 4-of-22 from the field in the first half, those outside of Ballo scored 28 points on 12-of-24 shooting in the second frame.
All told, Thursday afternoon was another disappointing performance out of Indiana. The Hoosiers' early-season non-conference struggles that have been an issue throughout Mike Woodson's tenure at Indiana, have persisted this week in The Bahamas.
FINAL STATS
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