Mike Woodson’s first Indiana team was built on defense.
According to KenPom, the Hoosiers finished the 2021-22 season with the nation’s 24th-best defense. The defense allowed IU to overcome a below-average offense in Big Ten play.
That Indiana team finished Big Ten play with the league’s top defense at 1.008 points per possession allowed. The Hoosiers ranked third in the conference in 2-point field goal percentage defense (46.7) and first in block percentage (13.3).
Defensively, that season was the high point so far during Woodson’s tenure in Bloomington.
Indiana’s defense has moved backward in the last two seasons.