Three things to watch for in Indiana’s men’s basketball contest against Marian

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s men’s basketball team showed Hoosier fans something on Sunday as the No. 17 Hoosiers took on No. 12 Tennessee and earned a 66-62 road win.

Yes, it was just an exhibition game, but it was played like a regular season game between two quality teams. Indiana wasn’t perfect, but the Hoosiers showed some toughness, some stamina and eventually some shots in the second half.

Friday’s 7 p.m. ET performance against Marian at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall won’t have the same sparkle as a Power Four showdown, but what Indiana fans want to see is no drop in performance from what Indiana showed in Knoxville.

Marian brings former Hoosier Pat Knight returns to Bloomington in a coaching role. Knight played for his father Bob Knight at Indiana from 1991 to 1995 and later served on his father’s staff at Indiana and Texas Tech before taking over as head coach of the Red Raiders from 2007 to 2011. Knight also coached at Lamar from 2011 to 2014. He was hired at Marian in May.

Here are three things to watch for as the Hoosiers battle the Volunteers.

1. Can Indiana shoot more consistently?

There was a sort of “all’s well that ends well” feeling about Indiana’s 3-point shooting against Tennessee. The Hoosiers missed all 11 first-half attempts at Thompson-Boling Arena. Indiana made amends in the second half with a 4-for-8 shooting performance. Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau and Kanaan Carlyle all scored from distance.

The feast-famine atmosphere mimicked some of Indiana’s accomplishments in 2024. For example, in Indiana’s 76-73 win at Ohio State in February, the Hoosiers were 1 of 7 from 3-point range in the first half with a 4 of 6 turnaround in the second half.

Few teams achieve complete consistency in any aspect, but it would serve the Hoosiers well to have two solid shooting halves. Two 4 of 11 in each half would be a solid night for the Hoosiers.

2. Will some of the injured players play?

It wasn’t a huge shock that Trey Galloway and Jakai Newton didn’t play in Tennessee, but Bryson Tucker’s absence was a bit of a surprise.

On his radio show this week, Indiana coach Mike Woodson said Galloway had been working out recently and Newton had been working out occasionally to get his knee in proper shape. He did not provide an update on Tucker, who injured his hamstring during practice shortly before the Tennessee trip. Tucker’s injury was believed to be minor.

“We didn’t have Trey Galloway, Jakai Newton or Bryson Tucker playing at the same time, so those are three big contributors for us. Once we get them all back? It will strengthen us even more and take us to a new level that we can be at,” Indiana point guard Myles Rice said Thursday.

If Galloway or Tucker can play, it will paint a fuller picture of what the Hoosiers are all about. It would be understandable if injured players continued to sit to reduce the risk of injury, but it would be nice if they could shake off some rust too.

3. Play fast, play error-free

Woodson has said multiple times that the makeup of the roster should allow the Hoosiers to play at a faster pace. Indiana tried that against Tennessee, but offseason rust and a good Volunteers defensive team made it easier said than done.

“When you play fast, you’re kind of open to losing the ball, which we had ten in the first half but three in the second half. So that’s promising in terms of how we really want to play,” Woodson said on his radio show Inside Indiana Basketball on Monday.

Rice said playing fast takes time to get right.

“I don’t think there’s such a thing as flawless basketball. There will be turnovers, there will be misreads here and there. It’s about picking our spots,” Rice said.

“Having a healthy relationship with not only the players but the coaching staff to be able to benefit from each other and know where we want to push and how we want to do it,” Rice continued.

Rice himself was flawless in the statistics and had no turnovers against the Volunteers. Six of Indiana’s 13 turnovers were committed by post players Reneau and Oumar Ballo. So if the Hoosiers can continue to calibrate their running game, they could reach that quick and error-free sweet spot.