No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 14 Indiana anticipated a second-round clash in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. But they didn’t think it would come in the consolation round.
That’s where the two traditional powers landed after both suffered upset losses in the opening round on Wednesday.
After Louisville manhandled the Hoosiers 89-61, West Virginia recorded an 86-78 overtime victory over the Bulldogs. As a result, the two ranked squads will match up on Thanksgiving afternoon in the tournament in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
The Hoosiers were out of sync from the start against the physical Cardinals, committing 23 turnovers and making just 33.3 percent of their shots from the field.
It was the most lopsided result in the 22-game history of the series and ended Louisville’s 16-game losing streak against ranked teams.
Despite the 28-point margin, the final score didn’t fully indicate the Cardinals’ dominance, as they pushed the lead to as many as 38 points.
“They came out at the very beginning and they punched us and we didn’t respond,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. “I gotta get this team more ready to go. I’m talking about from the beginning to the end.”
Malik Reneau provided 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists, all team highs. His frontcourt mate, 7-foot Oumar Ballo, contributed 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.
The rest of the Hoosiers made just 9 of 43 shots. Indiana’s top scorer this season, Mackenzie Mgbako, had a season-low eight points. Myles Rice missed 10 of 11 shots and scored three points.
The Hoosiers’ defense similarly was ineffective as Louisville shot 56.9 percent from the floor.
“Defensively, it’s always kind of been our signature, and we just didn’t have it tonight,” Woodson said. “From ball screens to ball movement, we just took nothing away, and we’d been pretty good in those areas.”
While Indiana lost to a team that went 8-24 last season, Gonzaga fell to a West Virginia squad that was 9-23.
The Bulldogs seemed to have the game under control as they led 43-33 early in the second half. But the Mountaineers responded with a 17-2 run.
Gonzaga answered the spree and had a five-point lead with 25 seconds left as Ryan Nembhard made two free throws. But the Bulldogs surrendered the lead again. Then in the extra session, Gonzaga hit just 2 of 10 shots from the floor and was outrebounded 8-3.
“They bogged down some of our actions,” Nembhard said. “They tried to deny our actions a little bit. We just gotta be better at getting to that second action and being able to play through that.”
Braden Huff hit 9 of 14 shots and finished with 19 points. Khalif Battle scored 16 points but only two came after intermission. Nembhard had 12 assists but was only 1-for-10 from the floor.
“That game came down to execution at the end,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who blamed himself for failing to call a timeout at the end of regulation when West Virginia’s Tucker DeVries made a key steal that allowed the Mountaineers to take the game to overtime.
“That one’s on me,” Few said.
Indiana and Gonzaga have split their four meetings all-time, with the Hoosiers winning the last matchup in 2008.
–Field Level Media
