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IU basketball’s 66-62 exhibition win at Tennessee on Sunday was just that: a victory in the preseason, when results ultimately do not count.
So let’s overreact to it.
Bearing in mind all the necessary caveats, there was still plenty to be encouraged by Sunday. Here are three overreactions:
IU vs. Tennessee player ratings: How new-look Indiana fared in exhibition win
Myles Rice can be the best point guard in the Big Ten
Not “is,” but certainly “can be.”
Rice was outstanding Sunday, playing through cramps to deliver a 20-point, four-assist performance on his debut. If his 3-point shot (0-of-3 Sunday) comes around, he will have a complete offensive game to draw on, and his free throws ultimately sealed the win, even if he’d liked to have made a couple more.
More than that, Rice’s ability to feel and control the pace of the game shone through every one of the 31 minutes he was on the floor.
Teammates and coaches have raved since the summer about Rice’s dynamism and speed, and there were moments when Tennessee got a rude awakening as to why. Rick Barnes’ program prides itself on its defense but struggled to control Indiana’s new point guard, who on this evidence absolutely can challenge the likes of Braden Smith and Dylan Harper for top honors at his position.
Oumar Ballo’s 6-point, 11-rebound performance was fine
Perhaps no transfer arrived to greater fanfare than Ballo, a two-time All-Pac-12 first-team selection during his Arizona career. A preseason poll of league media picked Ballo as its transfer of the year, and he even received a small handful of player-of-the-year votes.
IU fans seemed concerned, then, by Ballo’s halting offensive performance Sunday, during which he also committed three turnovers and sometimes looked sloppy in the post. But on this team, Ballo will be most important at the other end of the floor.
Indiana center Oumar Ballo (11) is guarded by Tennessee forward Felix Okpara (34) during a college basketball exhibition game on Sunday, October…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/iu-vs-tennessee-overreactions-myles-003118994.html
Author : Indianapolis Star
Publish date : 2024-10-28 00:31:00
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