My Two Cents: Loss to Arizona Still Great Learning Experience For Indiana

Indiana didn't have all the answers in how best to attack Arizona on Saturday, and it led to an 89-75 loss in Las Vegas. But the Hoosiers can take away a lot from this nonconference showdown as well, and the learning experience will definitely pay off during the Big Ten season.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — At some point this season, I won't be a bit surprised if North Carolina, Arizona and Kansas — the big highlight opponents on Indiana's nonconference schedule this season — all spend time at No. 1 in the polls.

That's how good they are at their best. We've seen that in the past, and we're seeing it now, too. There's a lot of talent on those teams. Final Four quality talent.

For Indiana, the goal this year was to test themselves against the best before the Big Ten season kicked into high gear. After several years of soft schedules, this 2022-23 slate is so much better. There are high-profile rivals, and some terrific road trips, too. That was certainly the case this weekend in Las Vegas when Indiana played Arizona here at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The outcome of the game wasn't what Hoosier Nation had hoped for, an 89-75 loss to Arizona, a talented team that's peaked at No. 4 in the polls so far. They had dominant size, several three-point shooters and a quick-paced and efficient offense that could score points in bunches.

Indiana wasn't at their level on Saturday. The Hoosiers trailed by 19 early at 27-8 but did a great job of battling back on several occasions, getting the lead to five three different times, and even to three once. But some bad breaks, and some bad calls, never allowed Indiana to get over the hump.

It was the second loss of the season for the Hoosiers, who are now 8-2. There were some similarities in both losses, 17 and 16 offensive rebounds each by Rutgers and Arizona. 

It's also no coincidence that freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino didn't play in both losses. His long 6-foot-6 body makes a difference from the guard position. He has a back issue, and he's missed three straight games now, which is starting to be a concern.

And the biggest reason why? Because as good as Indiana is — and I still think they are very good — what we've learned in the two losses is that there are ways to attack Indiana if you have the right pieces. 

Arizona had the right pieces. The Wildcats, who went 33-4 last year and are 8-1 now, dominated in the paint with 7-foot center Oumar Ballo and 6-foot-11 forward Azuolas Tubelis. There are many unbelievable things in Las Vegas, but Ballo being listed at 260 pounds ranks right up there. He's huge, and a handful. There are obvious comparisons to former Illinois center Kofi Cockburn, who was 285 pounds. That sounds more real to me.

And Tubelis? Well, the Lithuanian native is an NBA player for sure. That pair was just too much for 6-foot-9 Trayce Jackson-Davis and 6-8 Race Thompson on the defensive end. They combined for 36 points and 19 rebounds, which was basically their season average (39 points, 18 rebounds).

They were just better.

"This Arizona team is a good team. They are,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "We were challenged tonight. I've got to do a better job of getting us in position, but I thought the game was won in the paint. They were the better team tonight in the paint.

"Their bigs are dominant bigs. They're good. There's a reason why they're averaging 19 and 20 a game between the two of them, so we had to battle that. I thought they got the better of our bigs tonight. I just do. We didn't have any answer for them.''

Woodson chose to not double team Ballo and Tubelis in the post, letting Jackson-Davis, Thompson and Malik Reneau to do all the battling. It didn't work. Jackson-Davis eventually fouled out, and Thompson and Reneau were overmatched physically.

If Indiana was doing it over, they might have doubled more, but that's a double-edge sword against a lot of teams, including Arizona. They have shooters all over the floor too, and made 10 threes on Saturday. Woodson does get set in his ways sometimes, and doubling the post is certainly something he doesn't like to do.

That's the one concern with Indiana. As good as Jackson-Davis and the others are, they don't have the physical size of some of these guys. But let's also be clear. This was a game meant to help prepare the Hoosiers for Big Ten play.

There isn't a single Big Ten team with two bigs like Arizona has. 

"I don't want to get to where we have to beg for help or start doubling a lot,'' Woodson said. "When I go back and look at the tape, maybe I'll think differently the next time if we get an opportunity to play them. But since I've been here, we haven't done a whole lot of doubling the post, but we haven't played a whole lot of teams with two bigs like that that were dominant.''

The other issue that's still a concern for Indiana going forward is the dropoff at point guard with Hood-Schifino not available. You've heard me talk since the summer that what I love most about the Xavier Johnson/Hood-Schifino pairing was that Indiana was guaranteed to have a quality point guard on the floor all 40 minutes wit them sharing duties.

With Hood-Schifino out, there's too much on Johnson's shoulders. He picked up two early fouls in the first four-plus minutes, and really gets a lot of praise from me for playing through that. Woodson sat him after the second foul, but put him right back in a few minutes later. He played 26 minutes — and never picked up a third foul, racking up 11 assists. 

Junior Trey Galloway, for all he adds to the team, isn't really a true point guard. He's been forced into that role with Hood-Schifino out, and Rutgers and Arizona both aggressively hounded him defensively. The Hoosiers struggled often without Johnson on the floor.

Here's to hoping Hood-Schifino feels better soon, because Indiana is a completely different team with him on the floor. He adds a lot himself, of course, but he also gives Woodson the option to move pieces around a little more. 

Indiana deserves a lot of credit for battling back one time after another. They just dug too big of a hole. Still, I think they learned a lot about themselves. They got good film on battling bigs. They got even better film on attacking teams like that. Indiana scored 75 points, which isn't bad, but you've just got to score more against an Arizona team that plays with a lot of pace.

They have a week between games now, which is nice, but Kansas awaits on Saturday with an early showdown in Phog Allen Fieldhouse with the Jayhawks, who are playing well and will probably be a top-4 team when the rankings come out on Monday.

These big games are all good for the Hoosiers. We can't expect them to win them all. They beat Xavier and North Carolina, and those are both huge wins. Sure, this loss hurt, but there was a lot to be gained from it.

And we'll see if they can be a little more elite next week. These big showdowns are fun, and win, lose or drawn, they're fun to watch.