Offense Makes Strides, Defense Still Lacking in Indiana’s 89-80 Win Over Wright State

Indiana’s starting frontcourt of Malik Reneau and Kel’el Ware led the Hoosiers to an 89-80 win over Wright State, which came with promising improvements from the offense but familiar concerns about defense.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s work in progress continued Thursday night with an 89-80 win over Wright State.

The Hoosiers moved the ball and got out in transition more frequently on offense, though the defense still needing more work. Indiana coach Mike Woodson is looking for more consistency at the free throw line, better defensive rotations and improvement on both shooting and defending 3-point shots.

“If you put all those together, boy, life might be pretty good,” Woodson said. “I wouldn't probably be having this conversation with you. But that ain't the case. So we've just got to keep working.”

Starting bigs Malik Reneau and Kel’el Ware were bright spots for Indiana. Ware led the Hoosiers with 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line, along with 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Reneau was close behind with 16 points on 8-for-13 shooting, and he also grabbed eight rebounds.

The game started with Indiana playing better than it has all season by a wide margin. The Hoosiers jumped out to a 28-13 lead through 10 minutes, and everything was clicking offensively.

Trey Galloway’s aggressiveness seemed to spark an Indiana offense that acted as the enforcer early on. Galloway knocked down a pull-up three, and he was fearless in drawing fouls at the rim, finishing 8-for-10 at the free throw line. He made a concerted effort to push the pace after a defensive stop, and that rubbed off on the rest of the Hoosiers.

Forward Malik Reneau took it coast-to-coast for an easy dunk, and center Kel’el Ware even brought the ball up on occasion. The freedom with which Woodson allowed Indiana to play on Thursday opened up the offense with improved spacing and movement.

By halftime, the Hoosiers scored 54 points – just 15 shy of its total scoring output in the season opener against Florida Gulf Coast. Indiana shot 66.7% overall in the first half, and Wright State couldn’t begin to offer any resistance inside without fouling.

Woodson was pleased with the quick start, something Indiana didn’t have in the first two games. In practice this week, Woodson said, Indiana emphasized pushing the pace and ball movement, and he thought the defensive stops helped spark that. Indiana finished the game with 18 fastbreak points, a noticeable improvement from the four it had against Army.

“It's a big priority that we set in practice,” Reneau said. “Just trying to get flow and different movement and create different matchups and switches and angles that we can exploit when we come down the court.”

While Indiana made noticeable strides on offense, Wright State began to find holes in the Hoosiers’ defense. After scoring just 13 points in the first 10 minutes, Wright State racked up 36 points in the final 10 minutes of the half. And what looked like a potential blowout turned into a 54-49 Indiana halftime lead and a back-and-forth battle in the second half.

Indiana’s main defensive struggles came when defending ball screens and 3-pointers. Whether it was the guards not getting through the screens or the bigs not helping enough, Wright State’s pick-and-roll game got the Indiana defense off its line.

Wright State made 11-of-26 3-pointers, including an incredible 7-for-10 from senior guard Andrew Welage, who went scoreless in 11 minutes of action through the first two games. Alex Huibregtse added a trio of threes on six attempts, and Tanner Holden made his lone attempt during a 24-point night.

Woodson bluntly described Indiana’s need for more defensive adjustments.

“Just us switching correctly and getting next to a guy before he shoots the basketball,” Woodson said. “That would help.”

Indiana was just 3-for-16 from beyond the arc, including 1-for-4 from Trey Galloway and 1-for-7 from Mackenzie Mgbako. Woodson trusted Mgbako more on Thursday than the first two games, playing him 23 minutes, and he finished with 13 points on 3-for-9 shooting and 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

Still, Indiana pushed its lead to 11 points with 11:29 left in the game, when an Anthony Walker layup capped off a 9-2 run and got Assembly Hall on its feet. But right when it felt like Indiana might pull away, some defensive lapses allowed a Welage three, which turned into a 7-0 run. Indiana went on a similar 8-1 run shortly after, only again to be answered by a Welage three.

But when it was time to close the game out, Indiana went back to what was most successful on Thursday night. Stingy on-ball defense led to a difficult Wright State shot. Cupps rebounded and threw a quick outlet pass to Reneau sprinting down the sideline. Reneau saw Ware streaking down the other side and rewarded the big man with an alley-oop dunk.

“My first instinct in my head was, ‘I'm not laying this ball up, this is going up top and making a highlight play,’” Reneau said. “I wanted to throw it up and get the crowd hyped.”

A lingering concern Woodson had postgame was the rebounding margin. Wright State out-rebounded Indiana 40-37, including 14-8 on the offensive glass. He didn’t place this blame on the big men but called for the guards and wings to crash the glass more frequently.

“I can't have my starting guards play 26, 28 minutes and get one rebound apiece,” Woodson said. “That just can't happen. Hell, I can get a rebound at 65 years of age, probably stumble into one.”

Next up, Indiana travels to New York to play in the Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden. Indiana battles the defending national champion UConn Huskies Sunday, then plays either Texas or Louisville on Monday, depending on Sunday’s results.

The Hoosiers showed some real offensive improvement on Thursday, but they’ll have by far their biggest tests of the season in the Empire Classic.