Indiana has already thwarted one upset try and will look to put out another when it hosts nonconference opponent North Alabama on Thursday night in Bloomington, Ind. Following losses to Auburn and No. 2 Kansas, the Hoosiers (8-3) were given a scare by Morehead State before coming away with a 69-68 victory on Tuesday. Indiana trailed by 15 points before completing a 20-4 run to avert a humiliating defeat. As time expired, Malik Reneau blocked a shot by Morehead State’s Jordan Lathon.
“You should never have highs and lows like that,” Hoosiers coach Mike Woodson said afterward. “Kansas was a great game. We fell short. That doesn’t mean you lay an egg the next game. “That’s unacceptable. That’s on me. I have to keep working to get them better. Make sure we don’t put ourselves in that position again.” Backup Anthony Walker stepped up with 18 points to match a career high and collected nine rebounds. Walker made 7 of 11 shots.
“This gives me the utmost confidence,” Walker stated. “Knowing Coach Woody believes in me down the stretch.” The ability to play well. “It was all my effort and hard work.” Kel’el Ware finished with 10 points and six rebounds, lowering his team-leading averages to 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. He also leads the club with 16 blocked shots. North Alabama (6-6) is just 1-5 on the road, but it did give Kansas State a scare before falling 75-74 in overtime on December 2. On Nov. 22, it also lost 105-103 in double overtime to UT Martin.
Playing the Hoosiers rates as a big opportunity for the Lions, but coach Tony Pujol has stated that the process is more important than the win-loss ledger. “For us, we don’t really get caught up in the result, we get caught up in getting the day-to-day work done,” Pujol said recently on ASUN Gameday. “We want to make sure our guys are building the right kind of culture and then go out and compete at the highest level they can.” KJ Johnson leads North Alabama with a 13.9 scoring average, while Jacari Lane contributes 13.4 points and a team-best 4.4 assists per game.
Johnson recently returned to the lineup after missing three games due to an ankle injury. Earlier this season, he had 27 points against UT Martin and 23 against Jacksonville State. The previous two matches were won by Indiana by an average of 30.5 points. The most recent was an 87-52 win on December 13, 2020.
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