1/30/2023 basketball Edit

Malik Reneau 'Letting the Game Come to Him' During Current IU Win Streak

Alec Lasley • TheHoosier

Senior Writer

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Indiana freshman forward Malik Reneau hit the normal freshman slump that happens to most first-year players in and around January. But, game-after-game over the last two weeks, Reneau has found himself and is now playing at a high level for Indiana.

With Jordan Geronimo missing Saturday's game against Ohio State and Race Thompson still a bit hobbled by his knee injury, it was another opportunity for Reneau to step up his game to another level. And, he responded.

Reneau scored 15 points on 6-of-10 from the floor and had eight rebounds in 23 minutes.

"Just calming down on the court," Reneau said postgame. "Being calm when I'm out there, and just letting the game come to me."

The 6-foot-9 freshman started off the season on a tear and looked like he was going to be an instant impact player. The adjustment he made was exceptional. He had scored 10+ points in four of the first five games and was averaging 11.2 points per game while shooting 62.5 percent from the floor.

After that, however, Reneau went the next 14 games averaging just 5.1 points per game while shooting 49.2 percent from the field.

Part of the struggles were around foul trouble and getting into Big Ten play with bigger, longer and more athletic bigs.

“He's playing harder,” IU head coach Mike Woodson said earlier this month. “I thought the Wisconsin game is probably as hard as he's played all year, really. And that's a big part of -- I think once he figures out how to play hard all the time, then I think basketball will start to come easy for him because he is talented, and he does a lot of good things on the offensive end."

In the past two games, however, Reneau has emerged at a perfect time for Indiana. He's scored in double-figures in two straight games and is averaging 12.5 points and shooting 66.7 percent from the floor.

"I think Malik, once he figures out...we've got to work with him some more in terms of his low post moves and stuff because he's got some great...he's got great footwork, and he's got a nice touch around the rim," IU head coach Mike Woodson said after the Ohio State win.

Part of his success is on the offensive glass, especially against Ohio State. He had four offensive rebounds and is up to averaging nearly two offensive rebounds per game.

"He did have a lot of cleanup (opportunities) though where Trayce missed some bunnies and he was able to tap them back in," Woodson said. "Malik has got a big body, and I'm on him a lot about using his body because he is talented enough to do that."

Now with Race Thompson back in the lineup to go along with the dominant play of Trayce Jackson-Davis, the Hoosiers are looking to sure up the rotation in the front court. With Reneau playing at a much higher level the last few weeks and Jordan Geronimo playing more consistently before his recent injury, the production could continue to increase.

"Everything, everything opens up. Race gets a chance to post-up, I get a chance to post-up when they're double-teaming like that, shots get open, and everything just opens up when they start double-teaming Trayce," Reneau added. "It lets me and Race be able to isolate on the other side on the post-ups and stuff like that, get open threes, cuts and all that stuff."