BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As Indiana's coaching huddle dispersed before a resumption to play in the second half's under-8 timeout, Anthony Walker and Malik Reneau shared an embrace and a smile.
Just two nights ago, Walker was the hero that prevented an upset loss on the back of a career night. 48 hours later, the Hoosiers were much better in response – cruising to an ever-elusive comfortable win by 17 points over North Alabama. On Thursday night, it was Reneau’s turn to shine.
25 points on 10-of-14 shots from the field and, more notably, a perfect 4-of-4 from three. In terms of points, makes from the field and makes from three, all marks were Reneau’s career-best.
"The fact that he shot them all tonight in rhythm, that helps," head coach Mike Woodson said after Indiana's 83-66 throttling.
“Teams got to defend for that now,” Reneau said. “It just brings so much confidence to myself coming in after this break, coming into the Big Ten play.”
In Tuesday night's escape, Reneau's impact was limited in just 22 minutes of play. He had just six points on four attempts from the field, his four fouls putting a glass ceiling over the projected impact he would’ve liked to have brought to the floor. Tagging onto his 25-point scoreline in the victory over the Lions, however, were seven additional rebounds and four assists.
Zero fouls, too. That’s only occurred in two other instances during his collegiate career – at Kansas and home to Rutgers a season ago.
With just five more minutes to his line in the win over the Lions — the 27th and final coming before the media stoppage — the sophomore forward was afforded the luxury to enjoy the final moments of his career night in ease.
Reneau only took a seat on the padded sideline seats because his contributions were no longer needed. The result was already in hand.
Going forward, it's nights like these that help to build his confidence and serve as a rightful payoff for the work done behind the scenes.
"I've been working out with coach (Calbert) Cheaney a lot, understanding how he played the game, how he was able to work around the court, be able to get his shot wherever he wanted on the court," Reneau said. "Just getting reps up man, being confident when you go out there, not being scared to shoot the ball. I think that was the main part for me."
With the applied learnings, Reneau found buckets both at the rim and from distance, as documented earlier, earning him one of his best nights in candy stripes.
Although his scoring impact led the way, contributions poured in around him that helped to open the floor. Typically, the defensive scout against this IU team reads to pack the paint and force it to beat you from outside. Reneau and Kel'el Ware's offense, especially in tandem, is generally the safe bet to be the Hoosiers' engine on any given night.
A safety blanket for poor possessions and the exclamation point to great ones, Indiana's first identity with the ball in its hands this year is undeniably formed at the base of the paint. Teams converge in an effort to stifle the attack. That means double teams, much like the ones the Eagles sent on Tuesday night and Lions followed suit with Thursday, come early and often with overexaggerated swarms on the catch.
Indiana quickly adjusted and Reneau flourished, helping to ensure the Hoosiers wouldn't be just exhaling a sigh of relief as the final buzzer blared but rather enjoying a deserved wire-to-wire trouncing.
"We made the adjustment to either cut down to the short three, the corner three, or just to cut through the nail to make the layup," Reneau said. "It opened up a lot in the post."
In getting so many people to touch the ball and create – the Hoosiers had 25 assists on 31 made field goals on the evening – the offense displayed a great feel down the stretch and put forward one of its best performances of the year to date.
A third of the way through the year, Reneau is one of this team’s top contributors. By advanced metrics such as KenPom, he’s labeled as Indiana’s go-to guy because of his high usage of possessions and percentage of shots taken when he’s on the floor. He’s got the counting stats to back his heavy involvement of the offense, with team-highs in effective field goal percentage and true shooting accompanying Indiana’s reliance upon his game.
He’s been free of a sophomore slump, making progressions toward taking the type of second-year leap that could afford the Hoosiers a higher ceiling when performances of this caliber come.
By no means is his game perfect, but Indiana got a potential flash of the absolute best Reneau could offer. In replication attempts, stronger competition will look to avoid similar fates. Time will tell how the former five-star handles it.
But Thursday was his night, laying the foundation for more of them to potentially come in the future.
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