Balanced attack leads IU basketball to Big Ten-opening win over Minnesota

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BLOOMINGTON — IU basketball opened Big Ten play at Assembly Hall on Monday night with a commanding 82-67 win over Minnesota.

There were seven lead changes in the first 10 minutes, but not a single one after the Hoosiers went on a 16-1 run late in the first half while Minnesota went eight-plus minutes without a field goal to take a 36-23. The Gophers never got back to within single digits.

Indiana (8-2, 1-0) had five players in double-digits — Oumar Ballo had a team-high 18 points — and shot 56.6% from the field. Minnesota (6-5, 0-2) cooled off considerably after a hot-shooting start and finished the game with a season-low two made 3-pointers on 11 attempts (0-for-6 in the second half).

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IU basketball makes it look easy on offense vs. Gophers

Minnesota came into the game holding opposing teams to 62 points per game (ranked 17th in the country) on 41.8% shooting. Indiana tied its season-high with 44 points going into halftime and never dipped under 60% shooting in the first half.

The Hoosiers only knocked down two 3-pointers in the half, but still managed to average 1.33 points per possession. They outscored Minnesota 26-16 in the paint with 22 of those points coming on layups.

IU vs. Minnesota player ratings: Frontcourt dominates, freshman has big night

Minnesota had some size in 6-10 Trey Edmonds and 6-11 Dawson Garcia, but they struggled matching up against Ballo and Malik Reneau. They combined 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the first half.

The Hoosiers never really cooled off and ended up 80-plus points for the sixth time in their first 10 games. They only scored more than 80 points five times all last season. The Gophers had only allowed more than 70 points once in their first 10 games.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/balanced-attack-leads-iu-basketball-013655243.html

Author : Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2024-12-10 01:36:00

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