Indiana Point Guard Play Still Problem Coach Mike Woodson Needs to Solve

Indiana has gone back and forth between Xavier Johnson and Gabe Cupps as the team’s starting point guard this season, due to injuries and unproductive play. Coach Mike Woodson has also tried Trey Galloway, but solutions are escaping the Hoosiers in the heart of Big Ten play.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana has a point guard dilemma, and time is ticking away for coach Mike Woodson to solve it.

Entering the year, that position seemed set in stone, with Xavier Johnson returning for his sixth-year senior season after earning a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA. Woodson banked on Johnson being the player who averaged 16.7 points and dished out a program-record 22 assists in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament, or at least close to it.

But Johnson suffered what he described as “a crack in my foot,” which sidelined him for all seven games in December. Indiana went 5-2 without him, losing to now-No. 3 Kansas and No. 13 Auburn, picking up two important Big Ten wins and handling three mid-major opponents.

Since his return Jan. 3 at Nebraska, Johnson has struggled mightily in four games and led Indiana to a win in one. He picked up a Flagrant 2 foul and was ejected at Rutgers, and he received a Flagrant 1 for shoving Purdue’s Zach Edey Tuesday.

Johnson didn’t score against Nebraska or Purdue, and he mustered just two points against both Rutgers and Minnesota. Across those four games, Johnson had six assists and 13 turnovers, and he shot 1-for-14 from the field.

His 18-point night was critical in Indiana’s win over Ohio State, its best of the year. He looked like the old Johnson, speeding to the basket, earning trips to the free throw line and holding opposing point guard Bruce Thornton to just his second single-digit game of the season. 

That’s what Woodson and the Hoosiers need from their team captain, but that performance has been overshadowed by flagrant fouls, turnovers and poor shooting in his four other games this month, and for now it seems he’s lost his starting job.

Indiana's Xavier Johnson (0) reacts to getting called for a foul during the second half of the Indiana versus Purdue men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 :: Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Gabe Cupps started all seven games when Johnson was injured, which represented the first career starts for the freshman from Centerville, Ohio. The main dropoff from Johnson to Cupps is in the scoring department, as Cupps carries a pass-first mentality and looks to get his teammates open shots before himself. He also still seems to be learning where and when he can get shots off as a 6-foot-2 freshman playing against bigger defenders than in his high school days.

Cupps is shooting just 35.4% from the field this season but a solid 36.8% from 3-point range. He’s averaging 2.7 points per game, compared to Johnson’s 10.8 in his Indiana career. Woodson said on Jan. 5 that Cupps “has really been the only one whose on-ball defense has been really good for us.”

He's done a good job of taking care of the ball, too, committing just one turnover per game. Johnson averages 3.2 turnovers across his six-year career, though he’s at a career-low 2.1 this season.

Indiana Head Coach Mike Wooson talks with Gabe Cupps (2) during the first half of the Indiana versus Ohio State men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024 :: Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Indiana ranks 125th in the nation in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric, so the Hoosiers could really use Johnson’s scoring ability. He has speed and quickness like no one else on the roster, but his myriad of flagrant fouls, turnovers and shooting struggles have put Woodson in a difficult position.

Woodson opted to start Cupps in the last two games, a win over Minnesota and a loss to Purdue. Perhaps it was his way of punishing Johnson for his ejection at Rutgers, or perhaps he feels Johnson’s poor play warranted benching and that Indiana would be better with Cupps. Woodson declined to explain his decision to start Cupps against Minnesota, citing “in-house” reasons.

The third option is Trey Galloway, who Woodson let run the point most frequently in Indiana’s win over Minnesota. Though Galloway is not a true point guard, he’s certainly capable of bringing the ball up and running an offense geared around Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau and Kel’el Ware. He has a solid 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, too, and has had his two highest-scoring games against Kansas and Purdue.

After an 87-66 homecourt beatdown against rival No. 2 Purdue on Tuesday, Indiana travels to No. 11 Wisconsin Friday, then has a week off before a road trip to No. 14 Illinois on Jan. 27. The Hoosiers are 1-2 in away conference games, with ugly losses atIn Rutgers and Nebraska, and they’ll be underdogs in each of its next two.

Indiana is also 0-5 against Quad 1 opponents, but it’ll have two chances within the next 10 days to pick up wins that would boost their dwindling NCAA Tournament hopes. To do so, it’ll take strong point guard play that has eluded the Hoosiers for the vast majority of this season.

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