BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When Indiana traveled to Madison for the first meeting between these two teams this season, IU faced a sudden absence of one of its premier additions this offseason.
Kel’el Ware showed up questionable on the Hoosiers’ availability report on the evening of January 19. When he appeared in the Kohl Center wearing a boot, Indiana’s task of winning somewhere it hasn’t in the last quarter-century got steeper. The Hoosiers failed to summit that slope.
The return matchup would be different. Indiana, complete with a return of sixth-year senior Xavier Johnson, finally had a ‘full deck’ to compete with. That includes the 7-footer who made his way from Eugene to Bloomington by way of transfer last summer.
It didn’t take long for the Hoosiers to see what they were missing.
“Kel’el Ware has an All-American-type night,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said in the immediate moments following a 74-70 Indiana win. “20 points in the first half, he was terrific. We also gave him easy buckets early where he got some confidence going, and he’s a really good player. He just did whatever he wanted in the first half, specifically.”
His buckets came in varying fashions. Some post-ups, some fadeaways. A couple face-up jumpers, and his always present lob threat was as viable as ever. In those first 20 minutes, he was entirely responsible for a 7-0 run all to himself, and with IU then up 15 points, he was at one point outscoring the Badgers by himself, 18-17.
Badger buckets, as many teams have experienced this season, were harder to come by with him patrolling the paint. Yet, this was Wisconsin’s first dose of such treatment this year. Gone were the more-effective trips to the rim that helped the Badgers, in part, pour in a season-high 91 points over five weeks ago at home. That night, Wisconsin won the rebound battle and shot 59.6% from the field.
Tonight, with Ware in the fold and playing what likely figures to be his best game in an Indiana uniform – certainly among his most impactful – the script was flipped. Indiana’s defense was more settled, more composed and anchored by Ware in the middle.
“It was unbelievable,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said of Ware’s performance. “He had a man’s game, he really did. You get 27 (points), 11 (rebounds), five blocks, one turnover – Hell, maybe we didn’t go to him enough. He was fantastic tonight, and we needed every bit of him in order to win this game.”
Ware joined Auburn’s Johni Broome as the only players in Division I this season to have at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a single outing this year. His 27 points came on nearly perfect shooting from the field – 11-of-12, 1-for-1 on threes and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. NBA front offices are going to be all about that line, and there won’t be much they didn’t like about Tuesday’s tape when turning it on.
The Hoosiers came into Tuesday’s game losers of four straight, searching for an answer to a skid Woodson said afterward that he wouldn’t wish on anyone. It’s been largely a result of an inconsistent team putting together frustratingly inconsistent performances, where the gambles IU leveraged this offseason in constructing a roster and implementing a scheme have only worked in spurts.
Even despite his potential and arsenal of tools he possessed, Ware too came with risk. Prior baggage called into question what type of consistent output the projected NBA hopeful would bring, if a new setting was the answer and if he’d be asked to be the direct replacement for Trayce Jackson-Davis.
“We didn’t know what we were going to get. Really didn’t,” Woodson said. “We knew he was very skilled and the word was that he didn’t work hard. I thought after the first month of us getting after him a little bit that kind of picked up and it was nice carryover into the season.”
His response to that pushback, whether it be from his own coaching staff or others, is the reason why his impact can be so noticeable in a one-off setting. Replicating it is another aspect that IU will hope to develop over the season’s final stretch run – development is one of the main pillars Indiana’s focus is likely turned to with the postseason picture all but faded away from reality – but the growing sample size has substance.
With its best rim protector and one of its primary scoring threats on the floor, most teams are a better product. But Indiana’s frontcourt-reliant system depends on the status of Ware, Malik Reneau and otherwise.
The overall result is one thing, but Indiana’s probably in a closer game with Ware at his full capabilities in Madison. Likewise, the Hoosiers probably don’t emerge victorious in Tuesday night’s affair without No. 1 on the floor.
“Those two guys together,” Gard said, referencing Ware and Reneau, “are a handful… I don’t know if this is the best Kel’el has played, but it’s gotta be ranking near the top. Those two draw a lot of attention, and we didn’t do a good enough job on them specifically.”
Reneau’s impact limited by fouls, Ware picked up his slack “and then some,” Gard added.
“Just my presence on the floor,” Ware said. “Especially with me sitting on the bench the first game, watching them. I was able to get film and see how they played in the game. I feel like even with me and the whole team, we were able to come as one and just come out with the win.”
That carries weight for a team that’s seen these types of performances go by the wayside in the past this year. It’s not been as direct a correlation between star performance and win to show for it, but it came together in the Hoosiers’ penultimate home game this season.
Woodson’s got a happy locker room for the first time in three weeks. And Indiana has a hell of a player in Kel’el Ware.
Possibly soon enough, so too will the pros.
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