Bryson Tucker’s Burst Saves The Day For Indiana in 69-58 Win Over UNC-Greensboro

Mike Woodson called the Hoosiers ‘selfish’ as Indiana struggled to put away UNC-Greensboro at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Indiana Hoosiers forward Bryson Tucker (8) shoots the ball while UNC-Greensboro Spartans forward Malik Henry (24) defends in the first half at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Snow fell for the first time this fall in Bloomington on Thursday, and it seemed the deep freeze had settled inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall too.

After a solid start, No. 16 Indiana went into vapor-lock. A 16-point lead late in the first half was wiped out by UNC-Greensboro less than five minutes into the second half.

It was a freshman that came to the rescue for the Hoosiers.

Bryson Tucker came off the bench and scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half. Eleven of those points were scored in a six-plus-minute stretch after Greensboro tied the game. Indiana rode Tucker’s scoring to a 69-58 victory that lifted the Hoosiers to a 4-0 record.

Tucker’s performance was encouraging, but the Hoosiers’ overall performance did not inspire similar confidence. Indiana coach Mike Woodson was willing to acknowledge that.

“I've got to give this Greensboro team a lot of credit. I thought they played harder than we did. We didn't play hard, and that's unacceptable. That's on me,” Woodson said.

Aside from Tucker, who shredded Greensboro with his reliable mid-range jumper, it was an uneven day from the Hoosiers. Myles Rice led all scorers with 20 points and six assists, though much of his production came in the first half.

Past that? No other Hoosiers reached double-figure scoring. Oumar Ballo (9 points, 11 rebounds) and Malik Reneau (9 points, 10 rebounds) came closest.

Woodson was not pleased with the inconsistent performance – though inconsistent wasn’t the word that the Indiana coach used.

“As a team we had 16 assists. That's awful. I mean, it's awful. With this team, we should average between 20 and 30 assists. So the play tonight, the way we played offensively tonight was selfish as hell to me,” Woodson said.

“That’s something that just can't be because we have enough guys on this team that can make basketball plays,” Woodson continued. “We've just got to be unselfish and sacrifice the ball for the sake of the team and good things will happen.”

No Indiana players were made available for comment after the game.

Indiana Hoosiers guard Myles Rice (1) dribbles the ball while UNC-Greensboro Spartans guard Muon Reath (33) defends in the second half at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Hoosiers took a 7-0 lead on their way to a 21-5 advantage. Rice was at his best as he scored eight points in the early surge, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Indiana’s offense was solid at this point. The Hoosiers’ defense was even better. Greensboro missed 12 of its first 14 shots and had five turnovers that helped fuel that early Indiana run.

It seemed the Hoosiers would have an easy night, but when Indiana turned to its bench, the dropoff was dramatic. The Hoosiers became very turnover-prone – seven committed from the 14:13 to the six-minute mark – and the made shots dried up, too.

The bad offense had a spillover effect on the defense, and the Spartans closed the gap to 23-17 with 5:24 left in the half.

Then the Hoosiers flipped the switch back to “on” again. Rice provided some forward momentum with a couple of buckets, but the Hoosiers got aggressive in drawing fouls. Tucker, Mgbako and Rice all got to the line and converted their chances to restore Indiana’s advantage to 36-20 with just over a minute left in the half.

Then Indiana allowed Greensboro to finish the half with a 7-0 run to knock Indiana’s halftime advantage down to 36-27. The inconsistency was jarring.

It was the same dynamic in the second half as Greensboro began with a 13-4 run to tie the game with 15:57 left. Indiana was in a miserable state offensively as the Hoosiers missed nine of 10 shots going back into the first half.

Tucker came off the bench at that point and lifted the Hoosiers. The freshman has confidence in his two-handed jump shot, often taken while running off a screen near the elbow, and he worked it to good effect for the Hoosiers.

Indiana's Bryson Tucker (8) shoots with a hand in his face during the Indiana versus South Carolina men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A three-point play by Tucker put Indiana back in front – to stay as it turned out. He scored five in a row to give the Hoosiers a much-needed push.

Another jumper at 12:04 made it 49-42, and then a Tucker steal led to a Luke Goode transition 3-pointer to put the Hoosiers up 52-42 with 11:40 remaining in the game.

“I had to go somewhere. We struggled a little bit off the bench,” Woodson said on Tucker. “Tucker came in, and he shined for a freshman. He's a guy that can help us. I leaned on him tonight, and he came through and did some positive things.”

Any chance Greensboro (2-2) had to stay in the game ended with an 0-for-8 stretch from the field spanning seven minutes. Even so, Indiana didn’t pull away and settled for an 11-point victory.

Woodson knows that Indiana will have to be much better when it starts play at the Battle 4 Atlantis Wednesday against Louisville.

“We've got to go and clean this game up before I start thinking about the Bahamas. Louisville is the first game, but we've got to clean this game up and have a tough practice tomorrow, get ready for Louisville that way. But we've got to figure out this game and all the things we did wrong and didn't do,” Woodson said.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• WHAT WOODSON SAID: Everything Mike Woodson said to the media after Indiana's 69-58 win over UNC-Greensboro on Thursday. CLICK HERE.

• LIVE BLOG: Read about the Greensboro game as it unfolded. CLICK HERE.

• BRYSON TUCKER NEXT GENERATION: Instead of playing AAU basketball growing up, Indiana freshman Bryson Tucker played against older competition and refined his game with his father. That upbringing is reflected in his style of play and personality, which teammates and coaches consider uncommon for players his age. CLICK HERE