Las Vegas Invitational Recap: Indiana Makes A Statement In Sin City
Las Vegas Invitational Recap: Indiana Makes A Statement In Sin City
Behind Mackenzie Holmes' starring performance, Indiana showed the mettle of a Final Four-caliber team with its Las Vegas Invitational visit.
Good things have come in threes — specifically, years ending in the number 3 — for Indiana basketball.
Forty years ago in 1983, the Hoosiers qualified for their first-ever NCAA Tournament. Ten years before it participated in the then-still upstart postseason event, Indiana advanced to the national semifinals of the AIAW Tournament.
A third historic milestone may well be in reach for Indiana in 2023. This season's Hoosiers have the make-up of a Final Four team, which would be a program first, and they showed their potential with a pair of impressive Las Vegas Invitational wins.
Indiana was one of only three teams to leave Las Vegas with a 2-0 mark, joining Texas Tech and St. John's. And while the Red Storm outlasted Memphis and UTSA in a pair of competitive, single-digit point-margin victories, the Hoosiers rolled with wins over Auburn and Memphis that demonstrated both their offensive firepower and defensive prowess.
IU poured in 96 points, shooting north of 50 percent from the floor and better than 90 percent at the foul line, in its opening-night romp against Auburn. The Hoosiers followed it up holding Memphis to 23-of-67 shooting from the floor and three straight quarters of 16 points or fewer in a 79-64 win.
A star player is central to any Final Four push, and Indiana has its own in Mackenzie Holmes. Holmes was outstanding in Las Vegas, finishing with 53 combined points in the two blowout wins. She also went for a double-double against Auburn with 12 rebounds, highlighting a performance in which Holmes also made three steals and blocked a pair of shots.
Against Memphis, Holmes shot 12-of-15 from the floor; those three misses were her only misfires from the field all weekend. Her all-around versatility stole the show, and set the bar for the upcoming Big Ten Conference season.
How efficient has Mackenzie Holmes been for Indiana this season?
— Lyndsey D'Arcangelo (@darcangel21) November 28, 2022
She's averaging 76.6% from the field and 80.8% from 2. pic.twitter.com/t6oq99Uqd4
In addition to a program-first Final Four — which Indiana nearly reached in 2021 before an Elite Eight loss to Arizona — the 2022-23 Hoosiers are also pursuing their first Big Ten title since the '82-'83 campaign.
Conference play begins Dec. 4 with Indiana hosting Illinois, but first is a Dec. 1 matchup with another March hopeful in North Carolina. The Tar Heels reached last season's Sweet 16 and figure to be in the mix of a competitive ACC this season after winning last week's Phil Knight Invitational bracket.
Another conference that looks like it will be a top-to-bottom brawl come league season is the BIG EAST. The conference enjoyed an impressive first few weeks of the 2022-23 season thanks to performances both expected — like UConn reestablishing itself as a national title hopeful once again and Maddie Siegrist shining for Villanova — and unexpected.
Marquette's dominant showing at the Battle 4 Atlantis fits in the latter category; so, too, does the 2-0 showing St. John's made in Las Vegas.
The Red Storm are perfect through the first four weeks of the season after defeats of Memphis and UTSA in the Las Vegas Invitational — wins made all the more impressive when considering how much St. John's leaned on its defense to step up.
Primary scoring weapon Jayla Everett struggled shooting in Las Vegas, though still managed 15 points per game over the two victories, but it didn't matter with St. John's holding its opponents to fewer than 65 points in both outings.
The Red Storm boast a top 40-ranked defensive rating per HerHoopStats.com, and Kadaja Bailey is establishing herself as a versatile, all-around difference-maker. St. John's will take its standout defensive performance from Las Vegas into the start of BIG EAST play this week, traveling to Butler on Dec. 2 before a Dec. 4 home showdown with a Top 15-ranked Creighton bunch.
Both games stream on FloHoops.com.
Texas Tech rounds out the 2-0 teams from the Las Vegas Invitational, beating MTSU and Mercer. Freshman Bailey Maupin shined against Mercer, rolling up 27 points for a new career-high and going 13-of-13 from the foul line for a program record.
Clutch
— Lady Raider Basketball (@LadyRaiderWBB) November 28, 2022
With her perfect 13-of-13 shooting from the free throw line, Bailey broke the school record for most FTs made in a game without a miss #WreckEm | @BaileyMaupin pic.twitter.com/ceOJcyStnB