By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Fun found Bryson Tucker and Kanaan Carlyle well before they put the misery into Minnesota’s first road game of the season, before they came off the bench to help shoot and pass Indiana to a Big Ten opening 82-67 victory.
Their Monday night pre-game warmups left them loose and laughing, and when it turned serious, they delivered for a combined 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting.
Tucker, a 6-7 freshman forward had 11 points in eight first-half minutes and finished with 16 points and six rebounds. He bounced back after going 0-for-4 from the field and failing to score in Friday night’s win over Miami of Ohio.
“I had to stay focused and keep my mind right,” he said. “There are plenty of games to come.”
That includes Friday night’s trip to Nebraska (6-2).
“When we recruited (Tucker), we thought he would be a big piece of the puzzle, and he is,” coach Mike Woodson said. “We have to push him to play at a high level, play harder and smarter.
“Tonight, he came in and played a sold game. Hopefully he has a nice carryover to Nebraska.”
Carlyle, a 6-3 sophomore transfer guard out of Stanford, added 14 points on 3-for-6 3-point shooting, plus five assists. He had missed the previous three games with an injury.
“I feel good,” he said. “I did a lot of shooting to get my confidence back. The hard work is paying off.”
Added Woodson: “He had a full practice for the first time (Sunday). “He said he felt good, so we played him.”
Carlyle rotated with starting guard Trey Galloway, who had come off the bench in IU’s first six games.
“I went with Gallo because I’d been starting him,” Woodson said. “Kanaan didn’t take it personal. He did his job. Somebody has to come off the bench. I don’t know if the lineup will stay the same. He did his job coming in for his first Big Ten game.”
Added Carlyle: “I’m fine coming off the bench. I just want to win, whether it’s sixth man, eighth man, starting guard, I’m here to my job. That’s it.”
Carlyle and Tucker sparked IU (8-2) to 57 percent shooting and its fourth straight victory.
“We were all on the same page,” Tucker said about the strong shooting. “We knew we had to make a statement, work hard and stay focused.”
Eight Hoosiers played and eight scored with five reaching double figures.
Center Oumar Ballo had 18 points and seven rebounds, plus two assists, one block and one steal. Forward Malik Reneau had 16 points and seven rebounds. Mackenzie Mgbako rebounded from a sub-par performance with 13 points.
Minnesota (6-5) had no answer, but Woodson saw offensive flaws.
https://iuhoosiers.com/news/2024/12/9/mens-basketball-postgame-notes-minnesota
“We played great the first half, and the ball moved,” he said. “The second half started well, but then we had lapses and some selfish play. We have to get some things fixed. We you get a team down by 15 or 20 points, you have to remember how you got them down. I don’t think we did that down the stretch.”
IU’s poor defensive switching from its Friday night win over Miami of Ohio transformed into a stifling, swarming, shot-altering approach that left Minnesota scrambling for any semblance of offense in the final 11 minutes of the first half. The result — the Hoosiers built a 13-point halftime lead, and never lost control, but like the offense, there were defensive lapses Woodson wanted cleaned up.
“When we play good defense,” he said “it’s nice to watch the film. But when things go sour and we have miscues and get beat back down and give up offensive rebounds, we have to clean that up. When you’re playing in the Big Ten through this grind, those plays can beat you.”
IU pounded inside right away with two inside Reneau baskets and a Ballo layup for a 6-2 lead. Minnesota went ahead 12-7. Mgbako’s 3-pointer made it a two-point game after four minutes. Reneau tied it at 12-12 with an inside basket.
The teams exchanged two-point leads until a basket by Tucker and a pair of Ballo free throws pushed the Hoosiers ahead 26-22 with nine minutes left in the half. A Tucker jumper and layup, plus a Ballo free throw, made it a 31-23 Hoosier lead with six minutes left.
IU kept pushing and defending. Minnesota missed seven straight baskets. The lead grew to 36-23. By halftime, it was 44-31. Tucker and Ballo each had 11 points.
Rice and Reneau scored to open the second half for a 48-31 lead. A Luke Goode jumper made it 63-45 with 11 minutes left. Ninety seconds later, a Carlyle three-point play boosted the lead to 21.
A Ballo free throw made it a 75-57 score and the Hoosiers cruised from there. Tucker credit Woodson for continuing to push the team.
“Coach kept talking to us, making sure we had the same mindset each game. We kept going and working. We still have a long way to go, but we’ll get there.”
