LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- With the game tied in the second half, No. 16 Indiana men's basketball did just enough to pull away from UNC Greensboro Thursday night to remain undefeated.
The Hoosiers defeated the Spartans, 69-58, at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall behind 20 points from sophomore guard Myles Rice.
"We have a long way to go ... we didn't play hard, that's unacceptable and that's on me" IU coach Mike Woodson said.
In the first half it seemed like Indiana was going to run away with it. Within 11 minutes, UNC Greensboro had seven points and seven turnovers.
Rice already made a pair of 3-pointers and the Hoosiers' defense was smothering the Spartans.
But UNC Greensboro used a 9-0 run to cut the lead to seven and stayed with IU for the rest of the half. IU held just a 36-27 lead at halftime after going up 21-3 to start.
The second half didn't start any better for the Hoosiers. UNC Greensboro tied the game at 40 apiece less than five minutes into it.
The Hoosiers used a 12-2 run led by freshman Bryson Tucker to retake a double-digit lead but they still had issues completely putting UNC Greensboro away.
"Tucker, he's shining for a freshman," Woodson said. "He's a guy that can help us and I learned on him tonight."
Mailk Reneau and Oumar Ballo both nearly had double-doubles for IU. Reneau finished with 9 points and 10 rebounds and Ballo had 9 points and 11 rebounds.
Next up for the Hoosiers is the Battle 4 Atlantis and an opening matchup with Louisville.
"We've got to go and clean this game up before I start thinking about the Bahamas," Woodson said. "Louisville is the first game, but we've got to clean this game up and have a tough practice tomorrow, get ready for Louisville that way. But we've got to figure out this game and all the things we did wrong and didn't do."
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