PARADISE ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS – After being outspoken about his team's lack of intensity in its final tune-up game against UNC-Greensboro last Thursday, things only got worse for Mike Woodson and his 14th-ranked Hoosiers as they were out-played in every aspect of a 89-61 drubbing to Louisville on Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament.
“Tonight we just went backwards,” Woodson said postgame. "We just got out-toughed, and that's unacceptable to me."
The Hoosiers were dominated from the beginning, turning the ball over on its first possession, ultimately leading to a fast-break layup for the Cardinals. The turnover marked the first of what turned out to be nearly two dozen Indiana turnovers.
As a team. Indiana had more turnovers (23) than they had made baskets (21), a sign of just how poor the cream and crimson played in its opener in The Bahamas.
“Those opportunities you gotta give yourself a chance to score. And we just didn't do that,” a frustrated Woodson said. “But 23 is just way too many. You're not going to beat very many teams in college basketball doing that.”
Guard play was the emphasis for Woodson and his staff this summer, and going out and plucking Kanaan Carlyle and Myles Rice from the transfer portal was a big deal; however, Indiana got nothing from its transfer guards in Wednesday’s defeat. In fact, the Hoosiers didn’t get a basket from a player classified as a guard until Rice hit a three with 6:32 left in the second half.
Indiana finished an abysmal 4-of-19 on layups, mostly due to players running out of control on the fast-break. Not once during Wednesday’s loss did Indiana look like a cohesive team. Everything was disconnected, and it resulted in individuals trying to play hero ball.
“I mean that only makes the game worse for us,” junior forward Malik Reneau said of the disconnect. “people trying to do it by themselves, it just only causes more turnovers. I mean, you may get a couple buckets here and there, but our focus as a group is just trying to play together from here on out and keep going from there.”
The lone bright spot for the Hoosiers was the aforementioned Reneau, who finished with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a pair of first-half triples.
“I think we had great attention, so we had a great start going into the game. I think we just didn’t execute the game plan that coach Woodson had, especially on the defensive end regarding certain people knowing what we're doing,” Reneau said. “I had a couple of mistakes myself, so it was just like not a lack of focus towards the scout we had, and just not giving it all we were on the court.”
Indiana losing on a neutral floor has unfortunately become like clockwork. Wednesday afternoon’s beatdown was another in a long list of showcase games that Indiana got dominated in.
The last four losses Indiana has suffered on a neutral court have been by 20 points or more, with Wednesday afternoon’s 28-point drubbing matching the worst of the bunch (104-76 last year vs Auburn in Atlanta).
Luckily for the Hoosiers, they have an opportunity to flush the embarrassing loss with a quick turnaround as they play the loser of the Gonzaga/West Virginia tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. EST.
For Woodson, it is a chance to flip the narrative after suffering his second-worst loss in his homecoming in Bloomington.
“We got to go back and put them through this film session and see if we can learn from it and see if I can get them over the hump and get them back going again for tomorrow night.”
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