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IU basketball makes it three wins in a row as Kel'el Ware dominates vs. Minnesota

zion brown, indianapolis star
·3 min read

Put another victory on the board for the Hoosiers. Indiana (17-13, 9-10 Big Ten) beat Minnesota, 70-58, to sweep the season series against the Golden Gophers (18-12, 9-10).

Here are the reasons for IU’s third straight victory.

Insider: IU could have packed it in. It hasn't. And Mike Woodson, Hoosiers deserve credit for that.

More: Mike Woodson will return to coach IU basketball in 2024-25

Kel’el Ware leads the charge

Mar 6, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Cam Christie (24) shoots as Indiana Hoosiers center Kel'el Ware (1) defends during the first half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Cam Christie (24) shoots as Indiana Hoosiers center Kel'el Ware (1) defends during the first half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Indiana’s big man was the best player on the court, as he has been so often this season. Ware had another quality all-around showing, scoring 26 points to go with 11 rebounds and three blocks.

IU’s guards emphasized finding Ware early and often down low. The 7-footer scored the first bucket of the game on a turnaround jumper. From that point on, Ware had it going.

Ware followed his 15-rebound outing at Maryland with another tremendous game on the glass. His rebounding and rim protection limited Minnesota from ever finding an offensive rhythm in this game.

While Malik Reneau leads IU in scoring this season, Ware has been its best player in Big Ten play. Ware leads the Hoosiers in points, rebounds and blocks in conference play, and he can be trusted to stay on the floor more than Reneau, who’s frequently in foul trouble.

Minnesota — like many other teams who don’t have a 7-footer — couldn’t do anything with Ware on either end of the floor. After a lackluster offensive performance against Maryland, Ware was the Hoosiers’ best scorer on Wednesday night.

Insider: Mike Woodson has critics, and some complaints have merit. But this was always the outcome.

Hoosiers lock down defensively

For the second time this season against the Golden Gophers, IU delivered a remarkable defensive performance.

A week ago, Minnesota scored 97 points in a loss to Illinois. Seven days later, IU limited this team to 58 points. Ever since the Hoosiers erased a 16-point second-half deficit against Maryland, their defense has been on point.

Minnesota — a team that entered the day fourth in the Big Ten in scoring — was held to 39% on field goals and 5-of-26 on 3s (19%). Minnesota’s offense never gained comfortability when Indiana started the game on an 8-0 run.

The Hoosiers administered possibly their best defensive showing of the season to win their third straight game.

IU shares the rock

In spite of early turnover issues, IU shared the ball exceptionally well in Minneapolis. IU made 30 field goals due to 28 assists.

Trey Galloway’s point guard experiment continued with an 11-assist game. Xavier Johnson had five assists while Anthony Leal had four. Ware had three assists to go with his impact everywhere else on the court.

After committing eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game, Indiana actually won the turnover battle 18-14. Indiana composed itself enough to outlast Minnesota.

The Hoosiers’ 28 assists were a season high. This team is beginning to click at the right time, even if it is too late.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How Indiana basketball beat Minnesota: Kel'el Ware, defense, assists