While it was a 69-58 win over UNC Greensboro, it wasn't the prettiest performance from the Hoosiers, as poor shooting, turnovers and other struggles plagued the Hoosiers for the majority of the game, providing things for IU to work on before the marquee games it's likely to play this week.
IU got out to a fast start, leading 21-5 out of the gate, but UNCG ended up tying the game at 40 and stuck around for most of the game because of the undisciplined play of IU.
Some of the credit has to be given to UNCG, though, as the Spartans didn't quit after getting down early, Mike Woodson putting it by saying "I thought they played harder than we did. We didn't play hard, and that's unacceptable. That's on me."
Woodson also said "It was competition tonight. That team came to play, we didn't. That's college basketball. If you're not -- it's on me," letting everyone know that he takes responsibility for the lackluster showing.
While blame can't be placed solely on anyone, despite what Woodson said, the fact remains that this game against UNCG wasn't pretty for the majority of the action, giving Indiana some things to work on before it travels to The Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis.
One of the biggest things that Indiana needs to improve is turning the ball over, as the Hoosiers turned is over 14 times over the course of the game against UNCG. This is the second highest total of the season so far, trailing just the opener against SIU Edwardsville where IU turned it over 16 times.
The turnovers were fairly even among the Hoosiers, three from Myles Rice and Trey Galloway, two from Malik Reneau, Kanaan Carlyle and Oumar Ballo, and one from Langdon Hatton, totaling the 14 turnovers seen out of IU.
The majority of these turnovers were bad passes, either by the guards or a big man down low but, whatever the case was, it's certainly something that IU has to work on before it starts playing tough opponents down in Atlantis.
"But you saw how we threw the ball in the half-court setting all over the place. We made some passes tonight that had no chance of being completed. These are things that we can all work to get better. I've got to just push us in that direction to get better." said Woodson on the turnovers, illustrating just now noticeable these bad passes were throughout the game.
These turnovers resulted in 15 UNCG points, making over a quarter of the Spartans' points off Indiana giveaways. This shows that it may not have been so close if Indiana took care of the ball.
Another facet of the game where Indiana struggled was shooting the ball, as the Hoosiers shot just 25-for-60 from the field and 5-for-19 from three. That's good for 42% and 27% respectively, for the worst shooting night IU has had all season.
Last time out against South Carolina, the Hoosiers shot over 40% from three, in what was thought to be a sign of more to come but after this one, that may not be the case.
"We didn't prove it tonight going 5 for 19 from the three" said Woodson, outlining that he feels like his team didn't show continued growth from beyond the arc.
This, coupled with the turnovers made for a sloppy night for IU outside of the first stretch of the game, something that IU needs to asses and correct.
Another area where IU may need some work is allowing second chance points, as UNCG scored 10 second chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.
In a game where Indiana has the clear size advantage, this is not something that Hoosier fans would've liked to see as, on several occasions, a smaller Spartan out-hustled a larger Hoosier for the rebound.
This goes back to Woodson's comment that his team "didn't play hard" and with offensive rebounds it showed at times.
This, among the other struggles seen throughout the game, are all things that can be corrected, though, and there were some bright spots from this matchup.
Myles Rice and Bryson Tucker were great, powering IU to the victory, but the team as a whole certainly has things it can work on.
"We've had some good moments, we've had some bad moments. Against really good teams, you're going to have to have a lot of good moments to die away the bad moments if you're going to be a good team, and I think we can, but only time will tell. I've just got to keep working with this team to get them where I want them, but we're not there yet," said Woodson, illustrating the fact that, while this one wasn't pretty, there were good moments sprinkled in there.
Overall, this may have not been the greatest of performances, but it gives IU some things to work on as the season progresses. It's only November, so there's some time to fix some of the woes seen against UNCG, but big matchups are still on the horizon.
IU plays Louisville on Wednesday for the team's Battle 4 Atlantis opener and will play two more games in as many days thereafter. This means that IU should clean up the things seen against UNCG, and fast.
Woodson mentioned this by saying, "we've got to go and clean this game up before I start thinking about the Bahamas. Louisville is the first game, but we've got to clean this game up and have a tough practice tomorrow, get ready for Louisville that way. But we've got to figure out this game and all the things we did wrong and didn't do."
While IU didn't necessarily impress against UNCG, it still got the 69-58 win, although the turnovers, poor shooting and second chance points given up give the Hoosiers some important things to work on before the team plays some big time games in The Bahamas next week.
–––––
Like this content? Join the conversation on TheHoosier.com's premium message boards and subscribe today!
– Follow TheHoosier on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
– Subscribe to TheHoosier on YouTube for more content
– Interact with fellow fans on TheHoosier's Premium Football Board and Premium Hoops Board
