Trayce Jackson-Davis, Tamar Bates 'Banged Up' Ahead of Saturday's Exhibition Game
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana takes the floor for the first time this season with Saturday's exhibition game against Marian University, but who plays — and for how long — is still up in the air as the Hoosiers deal with a few nagging injuries before the first of two exhibition games.
The Hoosiers and Marian play at 3 p.m. ET as Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
"Right now we're a little banged up," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said when he met with the media on Friday morning. "Trayce [Jackson-Davis] is a little banged up. Tamar Bates has been sidelined for the last couple practices. We've kind of been going at each other, and it's been a long run from this summer in terms of competing against one another."
Woodson does not know if either player will be available on Saturday, saying he'll know more after Friday's practice.
Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (23) celebrates with guard Tamar Bates (53) in the second half against Marshall at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall last season.
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Leading up to Jackson-Davis' fourth season at Indiana, the 6-foot-9 forward was named preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, as well as a preseason AP All-American. Jackson-Davis averaged 18.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game last season, and he's a three-time All-Big Ten player.
Bates enters his sophomore year at Indiana as a candidate for a breakout season. When asked if any players have been a pleasant surprise in their offseason development, Woodson pointed to Bates on Friday. As a top-35 prospect out of IMG Academy, Bates came off the bench in 32 games as a freshman, averaging 3.9 points with a 33.8 field-goal percentage. Woodson said Bates has developed his body this offseason, and Indiana is benefitting from his improved play.
"[Bates] is starting to figure it out," Woodson said. "And that's kind of nice to see because he just had a lot of things going against him last season. I wouldn't call it going against him, he had a baby and that's a major, major responsibility for an 18-19 year old kid. I think he's figured that part of it out. He's comfortable in his own skin and where he is with that, and he's come back this year with a whole different attitude, which is kind of nice."
After playing 14.5 minutes per game last season, Bates should see an increased role this year with starting shooting guard Parker Stewart and backup point guard Rob Phinisee gone. Bates shot 29.8 percent from 3-point range last season, but an improvement in this area would be a major boost for Indiana, who finished 11th in the Big Ten in 3-point field goals at 33.3 percent.
Indiana enters 2022-23 as the Big Ten favorite according to media preseason polls, but Woodson said the Hoosiers still have a lot of work to do. With two exhibition games before Indiana's season opener on Nov. 7 against Morehead State, Woodson said he'll try out different rotation combinations to see where his team stands.
The second exhibition game is against St. Francis on Thursday at 7 p.m. Et.
"From a coaching standpoint, you'd like to see if they've picked up some stuff that we've put in from this summer and all the work that we've put up until this point," Woodson said. "We want to see, from a defensive standpoint, if they've picked things up and can carry into a ballgame, as well as the offense.
"We want to see if they're able to execute. There are a lot of things that we're looking for come [Saturday] at 3 o'clock to see if these guys have obtained a lot of the stuff that we've taught."
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- HOW TO WATCH: Indiana basketball hosts Marian in an exhibition game at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Here's how to watch, with game time and TV information, the coaching matchup and three things to see from Indiana. CLICK HERE
- MARIAN COACH SCOTT HEADY PREVIEWS IU GAME: Coach Scott Heady, his son, Luke, and the Marian Knights travel to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday for an exhibition game against Indiana at 3 p.m. ET. Scott won two state championships at Carmel High School and coached against Archie Miller in 2017. CLICK HERE
- MALIK RENEAU'S VALUE AS A FRESHMAN: Malik Reneau joined his teammate Jalen Hood-Schifino on the journey from Montverde Academy to Indiana, and he'll play a significant role after an offseason of learning from Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson. CLICK HERE
- JACKSON-DAVIS AP ALL-AMERICAN: Hoosier forward Trayce Jackson-Davis was named a preseason AP All-American as the only Big Ten player, joining Oscar Tshiebwe, Drew Timme, Marcus Sasser and Armando Bacot. CLICK HERE
