Bloomington, Ind. – Winthrop men's basketball battled to the end but Indiana held on for a 77-68 victory, Sunday evening in non-conference action.
WINTHROP (10-5, 0-0 Big South)
INDIANA (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten)
- Myles Rice (18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals)
- Malik Reneau (14 points, 7 rebounds, assist)
- Trey Galloway (11 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, steal)
FIRST HALF
- Winthrop won the tip and scored on its first possession as Kelton Talford got the ball in the paint and muscled his way to the rim and scored
- After Indiana scored off an inbound play on the other end, K.J. Doucet drove to the basket down the left side of the lane and scored for an early 4-2 advantage
- The Hoosiers scored on their first four possession and led 9-4 after Luke Goode knocked down a left wing three
- A short jumper by Talford cut the deficit to 13-9 at the 14:52 mark and then Isaiah Wilson found Ryan Jolly in the left corner for three to make it a one point game
- Indiana responded with a 6-0 spurt to push the lead to 19-12 with 13:15 left
- The run was stopped when Kasen Harrison stole the ball and then fed Tommy Kamarad on the break who finished at the rim
- The lead was seven points again for Indiana when the Eagles made back-to-back threes to make it a one point game again at the 8:49 mark
- Doucet knocked down the first three on the wing and then off a Harrison steal he found Paul Jones III in the right corner to trail 23-22
- Again, Indiana answered with another run, this time scoring seven straight to lead 30-22 with 5:42 remaining in the half
- Harrison brought the run to an end as he drove down the right side of the lane and scored off glass
- Eagles made it a one possession game with 2:17 left after four straight points as Logan Duncomb scored at the rim off a feed from Nick Johnson and then Johnson attacked the rim and scored to trail 34-32
- Harrison drilled a left wing three as time expired in the first half as Indiana led 41-37 at the break
SECOND HALF
- Hoosiers extended their lead back to eight points a minute into the half, but the Eagles were back within four at the 18:22 mark after a three-point play by Harrison
- It was a one possession game at 47-45 when the Eagles got a defensive stop, Doucet ran the floor as he took a pass from Johnson and blew by the defender for slam
- It was a two point game again at the 16:53 mark as Talford converted two free throws
- Hoosiers pushed the lead back to seven after two free throws by Goode, but a tough bucket inside by Talford brought the Eagles back within two possessions
- A three-point play by Talford with 11:34 to play pulled the Eagles within 55-52
- It was a six point Indiana lead after Harrison went 1-of-2 at the foul line with 8:51 to play and again with 6:37 to play after Doucet boarded a miss and scored
- Hoosiers hit the offensive glass on back-to-back possessions to extend its lead back to nine points with 5:19 remaining
- Eagles answered out of a timeout to make it a 67-60 lead for the Hoosiers as Doucet scored inside
- Trailing 69-60, Johnson outhustled Indiana players for a rebound after a miss by Doucet and was fouled as he made both free throws
- Then Harrison scored off the drive for an And-1 and he converted the three-point play to pull the Eagles within four points with 3:24 left
- Harrison then stole the ball as Indiana boarded a missed free throw and in transition found Johnson in the corner as he swished a three to make it a one-point game with 3:16 remaining
- Two free throws by Langdon Hatton with 2:35 to play put Indiana on top 72-68 and then after a Winthrop turnover Malik Reneau scored inside for an And-1 as he converted the free throw for a three-point play with two minutes remaining
- Eagles created a couple of good looks in the final minutes, but were unable to get shots to fall as the Hoosiers held on for the win
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Eagles shot just 31 percent from the field in the second half, 4-for-17 over the final 9:13 and finished at 38 percent for the game
- Winthrop finished the game shooting 38 percent while Indiana shot 45 percent
- The battle of the boards went to Indiana with a 46-39 advantage
- Hoosiers had 14 offensive rebounds turned into 16 points while the Eagles had 12 offensive boards they converted into 11 points
- The paint advantage went to Indiana, 54-36
- Harrison and Doucet each led five Eagles in double-figures with 14 points
- Talford had 13 points while Johnson and Jones III each added 10 points
NOTABLES
- Doucet's 14 points pushed him over 1,500 career points (1,503)
- Doucet's 14 points and 12 rebounds gave him his 3rd double-double of the season
- Johnson has now been in double-figures for six straight games as he moved past 1,200 career points
- This was just the third game all season in which Winthrop's opponent attempted more free throws
UP NEXT
Winthrop will be back in action in the new year as it hosts USC Upstate on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 4 p.m. in its Big South Conference opener.
STAY CONNECTED
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