Freshman saves IU from disaster as Mike Woodson’s substitution patterns continue to confound

BLOOMINGTON — IU basketball had to earn it on Thursday night in a 69-58 win over UNC Greensboro.

The No. 18 Hoosiers (4-0) had one final tuneup before heading to The Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis — the most challenging stretch of its nonconference schedule — but the Spartans weren’t a pushover.

They battled back from a 16-point deficit to tie the score early in the second half, and forced the crowd at Assembly Hall that braved out a winter storm to inject some energy into the proceedings to and give IU a wake-up call.

IU vs. UNCG player ratings: More Myles Rice, freshman provides needed boost

IU freshman Bryson Tucker puts on tights and a cape

Indiana’s Bryson Tucker (8) scores over UNC Greensboro’s Muon Reath (33) during the Indiana versus UNC Greensboro men’s basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Thursday, Nov. 21, 1024.

Bryson Tucker hit a series of clutch shots with IU scuffling down the stretch.

Tucker also showed a willingness to mix it up on defense and drew an offensive foul that set up a key 3-pointer to push the Hoosiers’ lead back up to double-digits with 11:39 to go in the game.

Tucker scored 14 of the team’s 19 bench points and 12 of those came in the second half. The freshman is emerging as IU’s most reliable scoring option off the bench and might be the best three-level scorer on the team behind Mackenzie Mgbako. His mid-range game did much of the damage Thursday and he dropped in some pretty fadeaway jumpers from 10-12 feet away from the basket.

He’s not been prone to the mistakes of a first-year player either.

Myles Rice, who scored a game-high 20 points, was the only other IU player in double-digits. The Hoosiers shot just 39.4% in the second half and turned the ball over 14 times.

Indiana flirts with disaster in second half vs. UNC Greensboro

Assembly Hall got a little anxious at the start of the second half. UNC Greensboro hit their first three shots coming out of halftime to make it a two-possession game. Indiana coach Mike Woodson…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/freshman-saves-iu-disaster-mike-015515551.html

Author : Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2024-11-22 01:55:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.