Malik Reneau, No. 17 Indiana tip off against SIU Edwardsville

Malik Reneau wants to take his game to the next level this season.If 10 straight points down the stretch of a charity exhibition game Oct. 27 at Tennessee means anything, the Indiana forward might be about to do that and then some.Reneau and the No. 17 Hoosiers open the most anticipated season in coach Mike Woodson’s four years on Wednesday night by hosting SIU Edwardsville in Bloomington, Ind.Coming off a year in which he averaged 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, Reneau desires the chance to do more. The first chore is staying on the floor. He averaged just 28.7 minutes per game last season because he fouled out of seven games.”It’s super important for me to stay on the floor,” he said. “It’s been emphasized about being able to play high minutes. If I’m not on the court, it’s hard for us to do a lot of things.”The other thing Woodson wants to see Reneau do is take more shots, specifically from the 3-point line. He was 15 of 45 last season, an acceptable percentage, and Indiana didn’t get much production from distance.”We are taking more 3s and getting up and down the floor,” Woodson said. “If he can pop and get that shot, I expect him to take it and feel good about taking it. If he gets in a situation where he’s ready to shoot the 3, he has to take it. We’ll live with it.”Indiana returns every starter from last season’s team except NBA first-round pick Kel’el Ware. Woodson added arguably the top transfer class in the offseason with the big catch being former Arizona center Oumar Ballo, a 7-footer who was a first team All-Pac 12 pick the last two seasons.After not even going to a postseason tournament last season, the Hoosiers not only expect to return to the NCAA field but make a run in March.