LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana's Basketball Game Against Army

Indiana continues the regular season Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET against the Army Black Knights. Welcome to our live blog, where we'll post updates, thoughts and highlights throughout the game at Assembly Hall.

Jack Ankony | Nov 12, 2023

LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana's Basketball Game Against Army /

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana hosts Army Sunday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall at 7 p.m. ET, representing the Hoosiers' second regular season game.

Indiana defeated Florida Gulf Coast 69-63 in the season opener, as Trey Galloway led the Hoosiers with 16 points. Army is 0-2 to start the year, with a 71-55 home loss to Marist and a 57-44 loss at Stonehill College. The SI Sportsbook favors Indiana by 26.5 points in this matchup.

Welcome to our live blog, where we'll post updates, thoughts and highlights throughout the game at Assembly Hall.

9:11 p.m. – FINAL: Indiana 72, Army 64. It wasn't pretty, but Indiana pulled away late to move to 2-0 on the season. Kel'el Ware led IU with 20 points. There's a lot to fix before hosting a good Wright State team on Thursday and heading to New York City for the Empire Classic on Sunday and Monday.

9:04 p.m. – Ware pokes away a steal, then Galloway rewards him in transition with an alley-oop dunk. After a missed Curry jumper, Johnson is fouled and goes 2-for-2 at the free throw line to give Indiana a 70-61 lead with less than a minute remaining.

9:00 p.m. – Really solid defensive possession from Indiana when it needed one the most. It's followed by a corner three from Gabe Cupps, giving Indiana a 64-58 lead with 2:05 to play, and Assembly Hall is louder than it's been all night.

8:55 p.m. – Army ties the game 58-58 with 3:30 to play after a tough finish from Barker in the lane.

8:52 p.m. – Another big dunk from Ware extends Indiana's lead to five, but Curry answers with a three from the top of the key to make it a 58-56 game with five minutes left. Army would have taken the lead, but Curry stepped out of bounds just before making a three.

8:48 p.m. – Indiana's first 3-point attempt of the second half is a difficult step-back try from Xavier Johnson at the end of the shot clock. Army is 10-for-32 from three, while Indiana is 3-for-9. Ware checks back in the game after.

8:46 p.m. – Indiana holding on to a 56-52 lead at the under-8 timeout. Cupps and Johnson picked up fouls that the crowd strongly disagreed with. I think they had an argument on the Cupps one, as it looked like he stayed in front of his man and the Army screener was still moving a bit. IU sticking with a mostly bench lineup of Johnson, Cupps, Gunn, Walker and Sparks after the timeout.

8:41 p.m. – Indiana up to 15 turnovers now, the latest being a bad pass from Reneau and a moving screen from Sparks.

8:40 p.m. – Sparks now scores his first points as a Hoosier on a reverse layup. Indiana trying out a new lineup here with Johnson, Cupps, Gunn, Sparks and Reneau.

8:38 p.m. – Cupps scores his first points of the night on a mid-range jumper off an out of bounds play, but Army responds with a three. Indiana leads 54-49 midway through the second half.

8:35 p.m. – Cupps cuts in front of his opponent for a steal in transition, but Ware made a poor pass inside to Reneau for a turnover. After having a ton of success in transition in the exhibition games and season opener, IU has just two fastbreak points tonight.

8:31 p.m. – Ware scores 11 straight points for Indiana, followed by a Reneau bucket and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Galloway. IU now has its biggest lead of the game at 52-46 with 12:13 to play. The offense seems to be playing with much more purpose and understanding in the second half.

8:26 p.m. – Cupps and Banks in the game now, replacing Mgbako and Johnson. Galloway throws an alley-oop to Ware on the first play, and Indiana leads 42-39. That's IU's biggest lead of the game.

8:24 p.m. – Johnson is down on the court now. Hard to tell what happened, but Tim Garl was massaging his left calf. Johnson was able to walk off under his own power.

8:17 p.m. – Woodson calls timeout with Indiana trailing 39-36 with 16:55 left in the game. Army has come out firing in the second half, making two 3-pointers. Indiana assistant coach Yasir Rosemond gave Mackenzie Mgbako an earful after the first. Indiana also has two turnovers to start the half.

7:53 p.m. – Reneau assists a Johnson on a corner three, and Indiana has its first lead since 2-0. It's been an ugly offensive half, but Johnson has been a bright spot with 15 points.

7:50 p.m. – Mgbako gets his first basket of the game, a mid-range jumper coming off a curl screen. Those are the kinds of actions that can really work with him, due to his shooting ability at 6-foot-8. That's a hard contest for any defense. IU trailing 29-27 with 1:19 left in the first half.

7:44 p.m. – IU still trailing Army 26-23 with 3:23 left in the half. Ware's uncontested dunk was the last bucket for the Hoosiers. Army doesn't have anyone that can guard him. I'd like to see Indiana get some looks for Mackenzie Mgabko, who's attempted just one shot in seven minutes today.

7:41 p.m. – Xavier Johnson up to 10 points already, but IU still trails 24-21 with 5:39 left in the half. He tipped in Ware's miss and was fouled in the process. Indiana has all five starters back on the court, and the offense has been much more effective. Ware had a nice assist to Johnson on the possession before. I've been impressed by his passing early on this season. He had four assists against FGCU.

7:32 p.m. – Banks knocks down a corner three to break the scoring drought.

7:30 p.m. – It doesn't feel like the five-bench player lineup – Cupps, Gunn, Banks, Walker, Sparks – has a great feel for what it wants to accomplish on offense right now. A fair amount of standing around, and players looking unsure of what to do. Indiana is trailing 19-11 with 8:58 left in the half and hasn't scored since the 14:06 mark.

7:25 p.m. – IU and Army tied 11-11 at the under-12 timeout. Cupps called for a foul on that last fastbreak. He reached into poke the ball away and may have gotten too much body. Crowd didn't like the call. Xavier Johnson leads Indiana with seven points early on.

7:22 p.m. – Gabe Cupps has already had a couple nice moments defensively, getting two deflections when guarding the ball. Sparks nearly had steal on the last one as he dove for it. IU now going with an all-bench lineup of Cupps, Gunn, Banks, Walker, Sparks.

7:21 p.m. – Payton Sparks enters the game now for the first time since getting injured in the first exhibition game. Gunn checked in a few minutes ago. Tied 11-11 with 13:22 left.

7:18 p.m. – This is feeling a lot like the FGCU game so far. Army is going to get most or all of its offensive production from three, and it's going to be very physical with Indiana inside. Army already has five fouls and leads 11-9 with 14:38 left in the half.

7:16 p.m. – Gabe Cupps first Hoosier off the bench tonight, replacing Galloway. Cupps already seems like a fan favorite, as he got a big hand from the crowd.

7:12 p.m. – Johnson ties the game 5-5 with a 3-pointer off a dribble handoff. Ware would have had another block on the previous possession, but he was called for goaltending.

7:11 p.m. – Ware gets his first block of the game, then Reneau is fouled on the other end after Johnson threw him a lob. Indiana looking to get a lot at the rim tonight.

7:09 p.m. – Nice set from Indiana on the first possession, getting Johnson running off a screen then throwing an alley-oop to Ware.

7:07 p.m. – Kel'el Ware wins the tip, and we're under way.

For Coach Knight. ❤️@IndianaMBB coaches are wearing red sweaters for their game against Army in honor of the late coach, who started his coaching career at the service academy. pic.twitter.com/gcqUsM6gUE
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) November 13, 2023

6:58 p.m. – The IU coaching staff is wearing red crewnecks with the RMK patch tonight in honor of Bob Knight, who passed away on Nov. 1. It's the same patch every player has on their jersey.

6:50 p.m. – Here are some things I'm watching tonight for Indiana. 1) How much three-guard lineup, and which forward would be the odd man out? 2) Defensive chemistry, especially guarding the 3-point line. 3) Growth from sophomores CJ Gunn and Kaleb Banks.

6:49 p.m. – The usual starting five for IU today: Xavier Johnson, Trey Galloway, Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Kel'el Ware

5:49 p.m. – Payton Sparks and Anthony Walker are in uniform for warmups.

5:30 p.m. – Indiana forwards Payton Sparks and Anthony Walker are listed questionable on today's pregame availability report. Sparks suffered a lower body injury in the first exhibition game against UIndy and has not played since. Walker's name popping up comes as a surprise, as he hasn't missed any action this year. Sparks transferred from Ball State and Walker transferred from Miami this offseason. Both are expected to play backup roles in the front court.

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