During the offseason, while Indiana was building its transfer class, the main concern was the 3-point shooting. For a team that shot just 32.4% from three last season, shots from beyond the arc were the number one issue going into this year.
Even with the loaded transfer class featuring guards Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle as 3-point threats, the questions still loomed. Is there enough there to be a good 3-point shooting team? Will Indiana continue to be a big-centered team and ignore the three? Will the transfers translate into a roster that struggles with threes last season?
All those questions were answered against South Carolina, as the Hoosiers shot 8-for-17 from three in their 87-71 win over the Gamecocks, showing that IU can, and will, shoot it from deep.
Mike Woodson said postgame that "tonight was a step forward in making threes. You know, what did we shoot, 47% from the threes. Anybody in college basketball would take that."
Just like Woodson said, this was certainly a step forward, especially from last season, but also from the first two games of this season, as IU shot 6-for-16 and 6-for-18 against SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois to start out the season.
This one against South Carolina, though, saw Indiana's 3-point offense flourish, as players like Myles Rice and Mackenzie Mgbako, among others, paved the way to the win through shooting it well from deep.
Myles Rice led Indiana with three long distance jumpers made, shooting 3-for-4 overall from beyond the arc for his best shooting performance he's had as a Hoosier.
Rice's first basket of the game, and Indiana's second overall, was a made three that gave Indiana a 5-4 lead, a lead that it wouldn't give up for the rest of the game showing that, even though it was early, the 3-ball is what gave Indiana the momentum to get this win.
Woodson said that "I thought Myles played great" and he "shot the ball well," which certainly was the case, as the transfer point guard was firing on all cylinders, particularly from the 3-point line where he set the tone for what was a great all-around shooting day from the Hoosiers.
Another transfer guard who was solid shooting the ball from deep was Kanaan Carlyle, who made two of his five 3-point attempts.
Myles Rice commented on Carlyle's performance against the Gamecocks, saying that it was "Amazing. Just like any other guy that plays at a great offensive rate. I just feel like today was one of them days. Based on their coverages and how they wanted to guard us, just everything that he's been doing prepping up to the game. He's an extremely hard worker and takes no days off."
While Carlyle had a solid game overall, his most notable moment came early on in the second half, where an overthrown lob to Mackenzie Mgbako found its way into the net for a made three from the half court line.
This may not have been a true 3-point attempt, but it was a testament to the fact that when a team is shooting it well, the ball usually finds the bottom of the net, and that was surely true of Indiana against South Carolina.
The other made threes came from Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau and Trey Galloway, all of whom impacted the game with their respective long range shots.
Mgbako's came first, as he followed up Rice's first three with one of his own, really getting the assembly hall crowd into it early, while Reneau's and Galloway's both came in the second half, solidifying IU's lead as it was on its way to victory.
This cumulated in the eight made threes IU had throughout the game, the most the Hoosiers have had since their January 3rd game against Nebraska last season where they shot 9-for-18 from deep.
That was the most IU had all season, and it just goes to show the improvement because, in just the third game of the 2024-25 campaign, the Hoosiers were just one short of the high from the season prior.
Despite this, Rice says he and the team can always be better, following up a smililar comment from Woodson, where the head coach said the Hoosiers need "Just better movement offensively" and hat his team "got stagnant" at times.
Rice went on to say that "It's about execution. Whether the ball is going into the hoop or not, we got to be better at executing. I think that's the point he's trying to make. Even though we did score X amount the points but the crispiness of our plays can be a whole lot better, and that starts with us as the guard and making sure everybody is on the same page."
Though Rice's and Woodson's comments point to this team getting better as the season goes on, the performance against South Carolina certainly deserves its justice, especially given how well IU shot it from three.
This is because way in which the Hoosiers filled up from deep not only led to the 87-71 victory over South Carolina, but because it shows the drastic shift between last year's team to the current Hoosier squad.
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