#4. The Hoosiers’ bench players need to grow up fast and play smarter
The only bench player that made a significant impact in the game and deserved to be on the floor was Trey Galloway. Miller Kopp was not performing how he has been this season and it was hurting the Hoosiers, but not as much as Jordan Geronimo and Malik Reneau’s lack of confidence and intelligence on the floor.
Geronimo, statistically, had a pretty decent game off the bench, with nine points on 4-for-6 shooting, 1-for-1 from deep, adding five rebounds, three assists, one steal, and two blocks in 19 minutes. But the lack of understanding offensively and not being able to at least limit Kris Murray when guarding him was painful to watch from a very athletic sophomore forward.
Reneau, on the other hand, showed that he’s not ready to go up against bigs in the Big Ten. At his 6-foot-9, 235-pound frame, he’s not savvy enough, yet, to be able to post up any Big Ten big men, especially when teams throw out a zone defense. In just six minutes of action off the bench, Reneau managed zero points and shot attempts, one steal, two turnovers, and three personal fouls, which are always questionable on him.
With Race Thompson out for the foreseeable future, it seems, Reneau and Geronimo need to snap into high-level Big Ten starters to be able to support Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino out on the floor.