As No. 14 Indiana coming off a two-game losing streak in Battle 4 Atlantis, the Hoosiers are relegated to the seventh-place game as they face Providence on Friday morning in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
It’s been two disappointing games for Indiana (4-2). In the opening round, it trailed by 38 points in an 89-61 loss to Louisville. Thursday was more of the same as Indiana fell to No. 3 Gonzaga, 89-73.
The Hoosiers rallied to hold a goal midway through the first half against Gonzaga, but their success was fleeting. Early in the second half, they were down 23 points. From there they never challenged.
Repeatable numbers told the story as Gonzaga won the battle on the boards 42-27, which paved the way for a 23-4 victory in the second half.
Indiana coach Mike Woodson called the Hoosiers’ lack of success on the boards “the difference in the game.”
“It’s a big problem that we’ve had and a lot of it is that we don’t put bodies in the bodies to stop it,” added Woodson. “That has to stop. We have to make our boys compete.”
Another highlight was the offensive performance of 7-foot center Oumar Ballo, who hit 11 of 13 shots on his way to a season-high 25 points.
Indiana guards played. In two games, Myles Rice collected nine points and two assists, making 3 of 17 shots, while Kanaan Carlyle provided six points and three assists, while making just 2 of 10 shots from the floor.
“The last two games, our perimeter game has been exposed. I have to fix that,” Woodson said.
Providence (5-2) enters the same frame of mind after trailing all the way in a 69-58 loss to Davidson on Thursday.
The Friars, who shot just 31 percent from the floor, fell behind 9-0 in the opening minutes and trailed by double digits the rest of the way, never made a strong run to the lead.
“Disappointing night, disappointing response for our program,” Providence coach Kim English said.
Jayden Pierre scored 14 points and Wesley Cardet Jr. added 13 to lead the Friars. Newcomer Oswin Erhunmwunse came off the bench and pulled down 11 rebounds, including nine from the offensive board.
The biggest concern for the English was the Friars’ inability to shoot close to the hoop. Providence hit just 10 of 37 attempts from inside the arc.
“I’m looking forward to going back and looking at it and really dissecting it and seeing why we didn’t finish better,” English said. “We feel like that was the difference in the game.”
The Friars are without their top threat, Bryce Hopkins, who is recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL. There was speculation that Hopkins, who averaged 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last season, would play his first season in the tournament.
After tip-off at 7:30 Thursday night, Providence will start at 11 a.m. Friday.
“It’s a tough place to be, right here, if you need work to improve on things, you need time to get better, identify things and take them back and look for them and look for them,” English said. “We don’t have that luxury right now.”
–Field Level Media
Source link
