BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Malik Reneau scored 19 points and Oumar Ballo posted his 35th career double-double as Indiana pulled away in the second half to post a 76-57 win over Miami (Ohio) Friday night in the Hoosiers’ final tune-up before opening Big Ten Conference play.
Indiana (7-2) won its third straight after dropping back-to-back decisions to Louisville and No. 3 Gonzaga and is 6-0 on its home floor. The Hoosiers host Minnesota in the conference opener Monday.
Luke Skaljac knocked down a 3-pointer at the 10-minute mark to pull the RedHawks within 55-50, but they did not score again until Skaljac hit two free throws with 3:50 left to make it 67-52. Ironically, Indiana also hit a dry spell after scoring its 50th point on a Reneau layup to take a 50-42 lead with 15:11 left. The Hoosiers did not score again until Luke Goode hit two free throws with 11:27 left.
Indiana shot 53.8% from the field for the game (28 of 52) and held a big advantage on the boards, outrebounding the RedHawks 46-29.
Reneau hit 8 of 15 from the field but was 0-3 from beyond the arc. Myles Rice hit 6 of 7 from the floor, including 2 of 3 from long range, to finish with 17 points while Ballo put up 14 points, dished out six assists and pulled down a season-high 18 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Trey Galloway knocked down 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and added 13 points.
Skaljac finished with 14 points off the bench to lead Miami (5-3). Eian Elmer added 11. The RedHawks shot 30.8% from the floor (20 of 65), but were 11 of 32 from distance.
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