Tamar Bates notches career night to earn Indiana basketball MVP

Indiana basketball backup guard, Tamar Bates, finally broke out of his shell on Friday night with a career-high 22 points in the 90-51 win vs. Jackson State.

Stat line vs. Jackson State: 24 MIN | 22 PTS | 4 AST | 8/11 FG | 4/6 3PT | 2/2 FT | 1 PF | 0 TOV

The sophomore guard from IMG Academy came into Bloomington last season and notched just four games with 10+ points and zero games with 15 or more points.

So to say this is a surprise is an understatement. Coming from IMG Academy, there was no question that Bates could score the ball. It was more of a question mark whether he would be able to handle the physicality of college basketball, especially the Big Ten.

He proved he has added muscle this offseason, along with playing with some added motivation, Bates came out and had a career night in front of his whole family at Assembly Hall.

From knocking down a career-high four three-pointers to attacking the basket and making plays for others, Bates really showed his growth over the off-season and showed he is someone the Hoosiers can ultimately rely on off the bench.

If Tamar Bates can continue to show improvement and score consistently off the bench for Woodson, I don’t see why he couldn’t be finishing games alongside Xavier Johnson, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Race Thompson, and Trayce Jackson-Davis, especially if Miller Kopp is having an off game for whatever reason.

I’ve been waiting patiently for Tamar Bates to break out and maybe this was the game he needed to get things going in his sophomore campaign.