With No. 14 Indiana coming off two humbling losses in the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Hoosiers are relegated to the seventh-place game as they face Providence on Friday morning in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
It’s been a mortifying two games for Indiana (4-2). In the opening round, it trailed by as many as 38 points in an 89-61 loss to Louisville. Thursday was more of the same as Indiana fell to No. 3 Gonzaga, 89-73.
The Hoosiers rallied to capture the lead midway through the first half against Gonzaga, but their success was fleeting. By early in the second period, they were down by 23 points. From there they never challenged.
The rebounding numbers told the tale as Gonzaga won the battle on the boards 42-27, which paved the way for its edge in second-chance points, 23-4.
Indiana coach Mike Woodson called the Hoosiers’ lack of success on the boards “the difference in the game.”
“It’s a major problem that we’ve had and a lot of it is we’re not putting bodies on bodies to block out,” Woodson added. “That’s gotta stop. We gotta get our guys competing.”
One of the few positives was the offensive work of 7-foot center Oumar Ballo, who hit 11 of 13 shots on his way to scoring a season-high 25 points.
The Indiana guards have been outplayed. In the two games, Myles Rice tallied nine points and two assists, making 3 of 17 shots, while Kanaan Carlyle provided six points and three assists, while making just 2 of 10 shots from the floor.
“These last two games, our perimeter play has been exposed. I gotta fix that,” Woodson said.
Providence (5-2) enters in a similar mindset after trailing all the way in a lackluster 69-58 loss to Davidson on Thursday.
The Friars, who shot just 31 percent from the floor, fell behind in the opening minutes 9-0 and trailed by double digits most of the way, never making a serious run at the lead.
“Disappointing night, disappointing response from our program,” Providence coach Kim English said.
Jayden Pierre scored 14 points and Wesley Cardet Jr. added 13 to lead the Friars. Freshman Oswin Erhunmwunse came off the bench to deliver 11 rebounds, including nine off the offensive board.
Of particular concern to English was the Friars’ inability to make shots from close to the hoop. Providence hit only 10 of 37 attempts from inside the arc.
“I’m looking forward to going back and watching it and really dissecting and seeing why we didn’t finish better,” English said. “We feel like that was the difference in the game.”
The Friars are without their top threat, Bryce Hopkins, who is recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL. There was speculation that Hopkins, who averaged 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last season, would make his season debut in the tournament.
After a 7:30 tipoff on Thursday night, Providence faces an 11 a.m. start on Friday.
“Tough spot to be in, right here, when you need work to improve on things, you need time to get better, identify things and rep it and rep it and demand it and demand it,” English said. “We don’t have that luxury right now.”