Indiana basketball newcomers impress as new offensive style shows in exhibition win over UIndy

Basketball was back in Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon as the Indiana basketball program took the floor for the first time this preseason. Despite a slow start, the Hoosiers would go on to cruise to a 74-52 win over University of Indianapolis.

Indiana entered the 2023-24 season with about as close to a new roster as you could get. Indiana lost seven players from last year’s roster — including four starters. Six new faces entered this offseason, three through the transfer portal and three from the 2023 class.

The question coming in wasn’t about the talent that would be on the floor, but more so the chemistry and cohesiveness and what that would look like while trying to put new players in new roles.

While the question wasn’t fully answered on Sunday, there were definitely positives to take. That included the play of some of the new faces.

Oregon transfer Kel’el Ware and five-star freshman Mackenzie Mgbako started and had 14 points a piece — both games highs. Ware added six rebounds and two blocks while Mgbako had eight rebounds and two assists.

Ware flashed his athletic ability on both ends of the floor. Not only did he have his two blocks, but he impacted 2-3 additional shot attempts throughout the game. Ware was also terrific at running the floor for easy transition buckets. He was 6-of-10 from the floor and hit one three.

Mgbako showed off his shot making ability in addition to shot creation. At 6-foot-8, he has great size on the perimeter and his stroke looked very good, going 1-of-3 from three. He showed a good ability to get into the lane and finish through contact. It took him the first half to get fully comfortable but looked like the five-star prospect and preseason Big Ten Freshman of the Year in half two.

While Ware and Mgbako were the two most notable players to make their debuts, they weren’t the only two that stood out. Indiana also had very good performances from transfer Anthony Walker and Payton Sparks, as well as freshman guard Gabe Cupps.

It was the defensive contributions from Cupps and Walker that got Indiana in a rhythm after halftime.

“We just need it every night. His (Cupps) effort and his defensive pressure, that does nothing but it’s contagious to all of us. Seeing him work and seeing him apply pressure on the ball, it makes us want to get stops and get deflections and get steals,” Indiana basketball guard CJ Gunn said of Cupps. “We need that type of energy coming off the bench to lift us up as a team.”

“That’s something Woody stated at the beginning of the year when he assembled this team, put the team together. This team is a lot taller than last year and a lot longer. We plan to use it to the best of our ability on offense and defense,” Walker added.

Cupps had a terrific segment of 4-5 possessions that included a 10-second violation, steal and a few deflections. It was part of a second-half defensive performance that forced 10 turnovers and limited Indianapolis to just 2-of-16 on 3s. The 10 second-half turnovers helped Indiana to 22 fast break points.

While Indiana was a very good defensive team a season ago, using its defense to translate to offense is a new dynamic that Indiana is eyeing this season.

“I just don’t want to live in a half-court game this season,” Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson said. “And I think we’ve got enough talent out there that guys can make plays … I thought the second half we was much better. Our defense kind of generated some easy buckets for us.”

Because of Indiana’s versatility,  you saw guys like Walker, Mgbako, Trey Galloway and Ware all leading the fast break at times.

“That’s a big emphasis in getting the ball out. And the way we try to play is X is not always the guy that’s got to lead the break,” Woodson added. “That’s why we work on ball handling every day. Our bigs can push it. But whoever is pushing it, we have to get ahead of the ball and then make the passes up the floor and create offense that way.”

Adding speed and versatility was something that was surely going to add a new dimension to Indiana’s offense. One thing that didn’t change, however, was IU’s use of the three-ball. Indiana didn’t make its first three until the 14:23 mark of the second half. In total, Indiana was just 3-of-10 from three.

” I don’t put a lot of emphasis on it. If we’ve got them, you’ve got to take them,” Woodson said. “I’m not telling guys to pass up the 3-point shot. And we had a few good looks, but their defense was pretty good the first half that really stymied us from just offensive movement.”

So, it was more of the same for Indiana in the half court. Pound it inside and make plays in the paint. That’s where Walker came in and found a groove. The Miami transfer had six points, three rebounds and three assists. He was highly effective used in the middle of zone and at the high post.

“We brought him on board because we thought he does a little bit of everything,” Woodson said. “I had to get on him in the one timeout because they were in the zone and we threw it a couple times to him and he looked like he was hesitant. And then he came right back after me getting on him and he responded with two buckets inside the zone. He’s been scoring and doing a lot of different things for us in practice, and I don’t want that to go the other way.”

The final newcomer — who played more of a limited role on Sunday due to a second-half ankle sprain — was Payton Sparks. The Ball State transfer showed off his toughness and high motor right when he stepped on the floor. He proved right away that he was going to continue his high efficiency in the paint this season.

In total, the newcomers combined for 40 of the team’s 74 points and 17 of the team’s 30 made field goals. It’s clear they are all going to be a factor this season and give Indiana a very deep rotation — full of talent and differing skillsets.

“I want to be able to play nine to 10 guys,” Woodson said. “I mean, I think if I can do that, we can have something in the tank as we finish the season.”