BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana sophomore guard Tamar Bates has talked a lot about how comfortable she feels getting extended minutes. That’s not uncommon for goalies, and it certainly works for Bates.
He has been one of Indiana’s best offensive weapons of late, and with point guard Xavier Johnson (ankle) out for an extended period of time, Indiana coach Mike Woodson said Monday night that he will put Bates in the starting lineup and use juniors Thursday night at Iowa. guard Trey Galloway off the bench.
Indiana guard Tamar Bates chats with coach Mike Woodson on the sidelines. (USA TODAY Sports)
“Once (Xavier Johnson) comes out, we’re going to change the lineup a little bit,” Woodson said Monday night on his radio show with Don Fisher. “We’re going to start Tamar, get Galloway off the bench and bring back the second unit because I need another ball-catcher in that regard.
“Looking back at last season, we started a lot of games well and this year it’s been a rollercoaster ride. So we’re going to have to shake things up a little bit to see if that works.”
For much of December, Indiana struggled to score. They fell into deep holes with two exhibition games against Kansas and Arizona, as well as their lone Big Ten loss at Rutgers. They never got over the hump, despite grinding out some back stretches in three losses.. They let Kennesaw State hang on too long in their last game on December 23 until they pulled away late for a 69-55 win.
Scroll down to continue
Woodson thinks having Bates in the starting lineup will help the Hoosiers get off to a good start. The Hoosiers (10-3, 1-1 in the Big Ten) play at Iowa City on Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET.
“One way or another, I have to make adjustments to who starts and who sits,” Woodson said. “When you play good teams like Kansas, Arizona, Rutgers, that’s important, you can’t start slow. In all three games, we got off to a slow start and we paid for it. It’s something we talked about a little bit moving forward.”
Bates has scored 19 or more points three times this season, and in Indiana’s first 13 games, he’s averaging 9.2 points and 22.0 minutes, shooting 41.7 percent (20-for-48) from three-point range and 52.3 percent from the field. field and 100 percent (10 for 10) at the free throw line.
Woodson liked the idea of having two point guards on the floor at the same time when starting Johnson with freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino. They spent much of the summer working on teamwork with Galloway and Bates. Galloway will now see more time when Goode-Schifino needs a break.
“[Ball-handling is] something we try to teach him and Tamar Bates, and even CJ (Gunn) a little bit,” Woodson said. “We trained Tamar and Galloway this summer just for that purpose, just in case something happens to one of the linebackers. So it’s nothing new, they just have to show up when we’re playing games.”
- Anthony Leal on the CBS EVENING NEWS: Indiana State basketball player Anthony Leal became a national hero after impressing his older sister Lauren on Christmas Day by paying off all of her student loans for her gift. The video went viral, and the pair was featured in a story on the CBS Evening News Monday night. Here is the video. CLICK HERE
- LEAL CHRISTMAS VIDEO: Indiana basketball player Anthony Leal and his teammates took advantage of the new NIL opportunities afforded to college basketball players. On Christmas morning, Lil did something special with her money, paying off her student loans with her NIL money for her older sister Lauren — her best friend and basketball idol. CLICK HERE
- BIG TEN ROUNDUP (Jan. 2): Things always seem to go badly for Purdue when it’s ranked No. 1 and has to play Rutgers, and it did Monday night when Cam Spencer hit a three-pointer in the final seconds to give Rutgers a 65-64 victory. . This is the second time in two years they beat Purdue as the No. 1 seed. Here’s our roundup for Jan. 2, including three bowl games and Tuesday’s basketball preview. CLICK HERE
- BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS (Volume 2): Purdue has been a real constant this season, and everyone behind them has already shown some warts. It’s a mess, but we’ll try to sort it all out in our second Big Ten Power Rankings through the Dec. 28 games. Here they are from #1 to #14. CLICK HERE
- PAT FORE COLUMN: While the Big Ten has made big waves this past season, the results on the field are still lingering after Saturday’s loss to Michigan and Ohio State in the College Football Playoff. Here’s a column from Sports Illustrated writer Pat Ford. CLICK HERE
