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(01/22/20 8:46pm)
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Indiana has lost three straight and is heading in the wrong direction in the Big Ten title race. Can they get it back on track?
The guys discuss:
- What went wrong at Maryland
- Can Brenna Wise break out of her funk
- Penn State may just be the perfect medicine
Join Austin, Jack and Drake on the latest addition of the Indiana Women's Basketball Podcast presented by the Hoosier Network!
(01/22/20 12:53am)
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Indiana might have saved the season on Saturday with a win at Nebraska. With the fanbase back on board, can Indiana capitalize with big names in town this week? Austin, Jackson and Connor break down the recent win and what must happen in the Hall this week.
(01/15/20 9:10pm)
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After a double overtime loss at Iowa, it's a rare bounce-back opportunity for the Hoosiers. Indiana takes on Northwestern on Thursday followed by a trip to Maryland on Monday. Austin, Jack and Drake are back with the newest Indiana women's basketball podcast.
(01/13/20 1:10am)
Indiana was on cruise control in conference play. That changed Sunday afternoon in Iowa City, where the Iowa Hawkeyes knocked off the No. 12 Indiana Hoosiers, 91-85.
Halfway through the second quarter, Indiana (14-3, 4-1) was up 34-20 and looked to be in complete control. By the end of the third quarter, it was tied up.
Indiana isn’t No. 12 because of only Ali Patberg and Brenna Wise. They have a lot of talent that can score any given night. Jaelynn Penn scored 24 points, Aleksa Gulbe added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Grace Berger scored 16 points.
The issue is, when the leaders — Patberg and Wise — are quiet, the team tends to struggle. In the loss to then-No. 10 UCLA, the two each scored just nine points and shot 5-of-20 from the field, Sunday evening at Iowa (13-3, 3-1), the two combined for just 13 points and shot 5-of-20 again.
Indiana can win without them playing incredible. Both players’ averages are down this season from last. But if Indiana wants to be the great team it's capable of being, IU needs them to be solid in the big games, like conference road games.
Late in regulation, it was Gulbe who was knocking down threes to keep the Hoosiers ahead. But at the end, Patberg allowed the game-tying bucket defensively and couldn’t find a good look at the basket to end regulation. First overtime ended in similar fashion, with Patberg forcing up a shot at the end of the shot clock from well outside the 3-point line.
Meanwhile, Teri Moren was forced to go to Mackenzie Holmes and Gulbe on the floor at the same time with the struggles of Wise. She was 2-for-8 with six points and for most of the end of regulation and first overtime, and Holmes was on the floor instead of Wise.
There were many reasons Indiana couldn’t put the game away. They shot just 21 percent (6-for-28) from deep and 61 percent (11-for-18) from the free-throw line. They also struggled to defend in the paint, giving up 58 paint points.
No one expected Indiana to go undefeated in Big Ten play. A road loss to a solid Iowa team is nowhere near the end of the world. But the loss does reveal a few flaws and a possible blueprint to beat Indiana. Attack the basket and force Indiana into 3-pointers.
Indiana’s 3-point shooting, surprisingly, hasn’t been incredible this season. Last year, they shot the three ball at 35 percent. This season, it’s down to just 33 percent, and they’ve had multiple games like Sunday's game where they go cold for most of the night. Outside of Gulbe’s 2-for-3 night, Indiana was 4-for-25.
Defensively, Indiana struggled with Iowa’s guards attacking the basket. Kathleen Doyle scored 31 points without making a three. Indiana dealt with a ton of foul trouble. Holmes and Gulbe had four while Berger, Wise and Jorie Allen all had three. Iowa found a lot of success attacking Indiana in the paint. The Hawkeyes made just four threes and still scored 91 points.
Overall, the Hoosiers are fine. They’re still atop the Big Ten standings, tied with Rutgers who they beat a few weeks back in Piscataway. This game just revealed some flaws. But if other teams can see them, Moren and Indiana will see them in film as well.
Indiana is back in action Thursday against Northwestern. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on BTNPlus.
(01/11/20 8:55pm)
Devonte Green runs down the floor after a huge 3-pointer to put Indiana up 60-50 with 2:52 to play. He has his hand up with the three fingers pointing to the sky, bouncing off his face.
Everyone’s watching Green celebrate an all-but-certain Indiana victory at that point. No one notices who else is on the floor.
After playing just 12 minutes in the last two games combined, redshirt freshman Jerome Hunter was out on the court for the crucial final minutes of a win over the No. 11 team in the country.
Hunter logged 19 minutes in the win, including the final 6:47. He entered with Indiana up seven. He didn’t leave the floor until the clock hit zero and Indiana won by 12.
Coming out of high school, Hunter was the No. 46 recruit by 247Sports. He was a first-state honoree as a senior and a finalist for Ohio Mr. Basketball. He scored 1,314 points and averaged over 20 points per game as a senior.
But Archie Miller wanted him on the floor for his defense, not his offense.
“He’s gotta understand, stay out of the way on offense and make sure you’re guarding your butt off,” Miller said Saturday. “The longer you play, then your offense will start to get easier for you.”
"Stay out of the way on offense," isn't something someone as prolific offensively as Hunter wants to hear. Hunter is thought of as a guy who can help Indiana’s woeful 3-point shooting. However, he underwent surgery on his leg last season, and according to Miller, never participated in a single drill in practice a year ago. Miller tells him he’s a true freshman, whether he agrees or not, because he didn’t have a single rep last year.
After the Northwestern game, Miller told the press he didn’t like his rotation and was planning to make changes. After the Ohio State game, he backed that, saying that if someone plays hard, they’re staying in. And man, did Jerome Hunter play hard.
“Jerome Hunter played the best game of his college career and he gave the best minutes all season long at the wing position,” Miller said.
If you judge Hunter off what you see in the games, you’re not even close to the full picture. Both Miller and the players said postgame how hard he works and how much he loves the game of basketball. Yeah, he’s a 15 percent 3-point shooter in game, but we don’t see what he does at practice.
Green went off for 19 points. Phinisee added 13. Those are great, and it’s really good to see the backcourt start to play well and play off each other. But to me, Indiana goes as its role players go, a.k.a Jerome Hunter.
(01/10/20 3:25am)
No. 12 Indiana (14-2, 4-0) remains undefeated after another dominating performance Thursday, this time against its arch rival Purdue (11-5, 2-2), 66-48. Indiana is 4-0 in the Big Ten for the first time in program history, and have won each game by double digits.
Ali Patberg continues to lead the Hoosiers in Big Ten play. Just a day after being named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25, Patberg scored 18 points, just above her conference average of 17 per game.
"Since Christmas, Ali has played at another level," Teri Moren said.
The story wasn’t about the offensive end, however. It was all about Indiana’s stifling defense, holding Purdue to six points in the first quarter and 10 in the second. Purdue was shooting just 26 percent from the field at halftime and Indiana led 34-16 at the break.
Purdue shot the ball better in the second half, above 50 percent from the floor, but the game was out of reach for basically the entire half. Purdue finished shooting 38 percent from the field. After shooting 0-for-8 from three in the first half, Purdue finished just 2-for-13. That’s a Purdue team that was shooting over 35 percent from long range on the season.
"I thought defensively, tonight, we were terrific," Moren said. "We didn’t give Purdue anything easy."
Continuing on the theme of defense, Indiana shut down the playmakers from Purdue. Karissa McLaughlin, the Boilermakers' leading scorer at 12.8 points per game, was held to six points and missed all five 3-point attempts. Dominique Oden, another dynamic guard who averages 11.5 points per game, was held to six points and just four field goal attempts.
The Hoosiers forced 21 Purdue turnovers. Purdue has struggled with turnovers all season, and Indiana made them pay. Indiana scored 26 points off the 21 Boilermaker turnovers.
Offensively, it was a balanced attack outside of Patberg’s 18 points. Aleksa Gulbe scored 10 points and added eight rebounds. Brenna Wise added nine, Jaelynn Penn had eight, and Grace Berger scored seven points on an off night. Berger was just 1-for-11 from the field.
It’s certainly concerning to see this type of shooting night from Berger, but it’s also a positive to see the team able to rally and still win by 18 on a night where one of its leading scorers makes just one shot.
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If you’re nit-picking this performance, Indiana had yet another slow start. The Hoosiers trailed 4-0 early and struggled to get good looks in the first few minutes. Slow starts have been a bit of an issue for Indiana, but the strength of schedule has helped the team overcome these starts.
"I was frustrated down the stretch," Moren said. "I didn't think we finished the game the way we wanted to. The one three we allowed is unacceptable to us. And we have to get off to faster starts."
Indiana was only 4-for-15 from beyond the arc, well below its season percentage of 33 percent.
The Hoosiers are starting to prove they are the cream of the crop in the Big Ten. Maryland, the other top-20 team in the conference, just lost at Northwestern by over 20, then Northwestern lost to Iowa at home by nearly 30.
The Big Ten has a lot of good teams, but not many great teams. Indiana has gone from the hunter to the hunted quickly, and we’ll see how the Hoosiers respond to that new position in the conference when they make some road trips coming up to Iowa and Maryland.
"Winning is really fun," Patberg said. "We're winning the right way. We're all contributing. We want each other to do well."
For now, it’s smooth sailing for Indiana. Four straight conference wins by double digits and its highest ranking in the AP Poll in school history. Next up, a road trip to Iowa on Sunday.
(01/09/20 3:46am)
A chorus of boos rained over Branch McCracken Court. It was 50-40 Northwestern, and Indiana fans had had enough. The Hoosiers ended the first half with no field goals in the last 7:05.
But somehow, the Hoosiers rallied in the second half and won a game they couldn't afford to lose, 66-62, behind Trayce Jackson-Davis' 21 points.
So how does one write about the game we just watched? In the midst of a season featuring plenty of good, plenty of bad and plenty of ugly, this game bottled it all up in 40 minutes.
The Ugly
Everyone wants the bad news first, so we'll start with the ugly. It started after an Al Durham slam with 7:05 to go in the first half. Indiana led 29-19 and looked like a whole new team, especially offensively. That quickly ended.
A former lacrosse standout, Pat Spencer, got hot for Northwestern. He finished with 15 points. Northwestern was slicing and dicing the Indiana defense to finish the first half.
In the final 7:05 of the first half, Indiana was 0-for-6 and had six turnovers. Meanwhile, Northwestern went on a 15-2 run to take a 34-31 lead to halftime.
"We were definitely lacking some energy," Justin Smith said. "Why, I couldn't tell you. I just think it's kind of, we need to be more engaged going into it."
There's no disputing that Jackson-Davis is the best player on the court for Indiana. He got off to another solid start for Indiana, including a sweet alley-oop from Durham. However, he didn't take a single shot in the final 8:59, which was the alley-oop.
It's absolutely mind-boggling to see a player get off to such a good start and then not touch the ball for such long stretches. Somehow, Jackson-Davis disappears for long stretches. For a team that cannot hit 3-pointers, he cannot afford to be absent from the offense.
"Very concerned with our group right now, just in terms of where our brains are, where our minds are and what we're about," head coach Archie Miller said.
Overall, the ugly included a lot of 3-point misses. After starting 2-for-2, Indiana finished 3-for-14 from long range, a dismal 21.4 percent. Overall, the Hoosiers shot 37 percent from the floor.
This performance comes on the heels of an interesting quote from Miller on his radio show Monday where he talked about it being "complete BS" that this team can't shoot. Well, they didn't exactly back him up tonight.
The Bad
The shooting was ugly, the turnovers were bad. After finishing the first half on the wrong side of a Northwestern 15-2 run, the second half was just as bad. Eight minutes into the second half, Northwestern was up 10, 50-40.
Indiana's turnover count was up to 11. Smith had five himself, all in the first half. After a 29-19 start for Indiana, Northwestern rallied off a 31-11 run. A crowd that just wanted to get behind this team felt no reason not to boo.
"It just doesn't seem like our group is just locked in on 'I do my job when I come in the game,' and it just seems like we have some guys that are really unsure," Miller said.
There was more bad. Devonte Green, arguably Indiana's most creative offensive weapon, was completely absent. In fact, he didn't
play in the final 10 minutes of the game. His 0-for-6 shooting performance was enough for Miller to place him on the bench and look elsewhere for production. Indiana was -13 with Green on the floor.
Green isn't the only player struggling. While he did bank home a three in the first half, Jerome Hunter seems a little lost on the floor. Damezi Anderson and De'Ron Davis played five minutes combined. Race Thompson played just seven minutes. Smith was visibly frustrated with Miller when he came out at one point in the second half. A disagreement between the two was caught by the BTN cameras, where Smith walked away and threw his hands up in the air.
Outside of the efforts of Jackson-Davis, Durham and Smith, who combined for 55 points, there wasn't much else.
"I'll be honest with you, I don't necessarily know right now if the 11-guy rotation is going to work," Miller said. "I just don't know necessarily if that's the best thing moving forward if we're not going to get all 11 heated up and playing as hard and as unselfish as we possibly can."
Seth Davis of BTN pointed out the body language to start the second half. It was dejected, disparaged and discouraged. It looked like the same Indiana team that lacked confidence and lost 12 of 13 last year.
Can they fix it? Are there any easy fixes? That brings us to the good.
The Good
Even with all the issues listed above, Indiana responded. After that weird conversation with Miller, Smith turned in one of his better performances offensively. Smith finished with 18 points and six rebounds, four offensive. Smith, Brunk and Jackson-Davis all ended with four offensive rebounds.
Indiana's 40-29 rebound margin and 12 second-chance points were a big reason why they came back. Quickly, a 10-0 run erased that 50-40 deficit and eventually took the lead, 60-59, with just under two minutes left, their first lead since the late stages of the first half.
More good came from Durham. He had the best game of any Hoosier defensively and added 16 points as well. He had three of Indiana's nine steals, five of which came in the final 20 minutes.
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The free-throw line was also friendly to Indiana. The Hoosiers shot 23-for-30, 76.7 percent, from the charity stripe. Durham was 11-for-12 from the line. Miller always wants to make more free throws than his opponents attempt, and that was the case Wednesday. Indiana made 23 free throws and Northwestern attempted just 10.
"I was proud of the guys going to a line," Miller said. That's a big deal for our team, getting fouled. We were able to get fouled in both halves."
Joey Brunk continues to impress with his effort on the glass. He finished with just five points, but he had 12 rebounds, four on the offensive end.
Overall, it's not a win that inspires any hope in the fanbase. In fact, it might have made fans, and Miller, feel worse about their team than they did coming in. But, it's a win, and it's a win in Big Ten play. In a conference as tough as the Big Ten, I guess we all have to be OK with any win at this point.
Next up, a struggling Ohio State Buckeye team who has lost three straight. But, they're the No. 11 team in the country and it's an opportunity for Indiana to make a statement in front of its home fans.
"We've got to get ourselves out of a little bit of a funk, and we have to start competing a little harder, because this is the toughest league in America right now to win a game," Miller said.
(01/06/20 9:22pm)
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Indiana is showing some major signs of struggle after back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Maryland. The guys come together from all across the country to talk about everything Indiana basketball and how the ship can get steered back in the right direction before it's too late.
(01/06/20 8:37pm)
Dec. 7 was the wake-up call. Indiana was run out of the Kohl Center from the tip, losing by 20 in the Big Ten opener.
So, what was this past effort against Maryland? Another wake-up call? No. This game was a harsh reminder of the flaws of the 2019-20 Hoosiers. It’s a reminder this team doesn’t have a go-to scorer. It’s a reminder this team will go through long stretches of inept offense. It’s a reminder Indiana isn’t at the level of the top teams in the conference.
It’s time to go back to the basics as Indiana (11-3, 1-2) welcomes Northwestern (5-8, 0-3) to Assembly Hall on Wednesday.
Defense
Archie Miller was pleased, for the most part, with their defensive effort Saturday. Before the crazy run around the 10-minute mark, Indiana was holding Maryland in check offensively. But once the bandages came off offensively, that led to easy Maryland buckets.
So what are the basics? Well, it starts defensively, because that’s where Miller knows this team has to win.
Indiana won’t win games scoring 80 points. Since the big win over Florida State, Indiana hasn’t scored more than 64 points in any game other than the overtime thriller against Nebraska. They knocked off UConn by holding the Huskies to 54 points and 41 percent shooting. Against Notre Dame, they held the Irish to 60 points and other than the crazy hot stretch to finish the game, Indiana held the Irish shooters in check.
That’s how Indiana will have to win games. They won’t win shootouts. They won’t win 3-point shooting contests. They can win ugly, sloppy, low-scoring battles.
“We played hard for the most part,” Miller said after the Maryland loss. “Our defense held in there.”
The defense did hold in against Maryland. They held the Terrapins to 28 percent shooting in the first half. The screws came loose in the second half, but for about 30 minutes, Indiana did a great job defensively against an offensively powered Maryland team.
“We’ve gone through some tough stretches here offensively, but it didn’t impact our defense for a good portion of the game,” Miller said.
Northwestern will provide Indiana a chance to make a statement defensively. The Wildcats are 273rd in the country in scoring offense, averaging 67.5 points per game. They’re 300th in 3-point attempts and 260th in 3-point percentage (31.5 percent).
Backcourt
It starts with defense. But that’s not Indiana’s biggest issue. Indiana will only go as far as its backcourt, a group of players that has really struggled to be consistent this season.
Devonte Green scored 30 against Florida State, but was absent in the loss to Wisconsin. He couldn’t find the basket for 35 minutes against Maryland, then couldn’t miss when it didn’t matter late.
Al Durham got off to a great start this season, but since conference play began, he’s been quiet and hasn’t been able to get open looks from three. Since the Nebraska game, Durham is 0-for-4 from three. That’s not enough attempts for a guy who shoots 37 percent from beyond the arc.
Rob Phinisee has been in and out of the lineup all season with injuries, but when he’s in the lineup, he makes Indiana better. However, he’s been relatively quiet in the past few games. Since a great game against Nebraska in his return to the lineup, Phinisee has scored just seven points in three games and has four assists to five turnovers.
Finally, Armaan Franklin has had his moments. He hit the biggest shot of the season against Notre Dame. He has showed off his solid midrange game the past few games, but overall, he’s shooting 35 percent from the field and 21 percent from the 3-point line.
“Our backcourt has to be able to create more off the dribble,” Miller said. “They have to be able to get assists.”
The numbers from the backcourt won’t get the job done for Indiana. Someone has to step up and score. Someone has to step up and facilitate. Someone has to step up and lead.
Northwestern is holding opponents to 31.4 percent from long range. They’re also holding opponents to 42.2 percent from the field. In its three Big Ten games, Northwestern is holding opponents to 30.6 percent from three. Indiana will likely have to attack inside to score on the Wildcats.
Scoring
“The ball's not going in the basket,” Miller said. “Whether it’s a layup, whether it’s a free throw or whether it’s a wide-open shot. At some point we have to be able to put it in the basket. We have enough guys who can do that.”
Miller puts it best. The ball isn’t going in the basket. There are four-to-five-minute spans where Indiana can’t miss and scores well,
both inside and out. The more concerning minutes are the longer stretches without baskets and without good looks.
Against Maryland, Indiana cut the deficit to three, 36-33, with 14:17 to play. After that, Maryland went on a 33-8 run in the next 10 minutes and ran away from Indiana. That just can’t happen if you want to win in the Big Ten.
Miller talked about a few keys to turning this around offensively. First, Indiana has to get to the line and hit free throws. Indiana is first in the NCAA in free-throw attempts per game (26.5). Against Maryland, they went to the line 18 times. The issue is the makes. The Hoosiers shot 11-for-18 from the line against Maryland and 9-for-18 against Arkansas. They’re shooting 68.7 percent from the stripe this season.
Secondly, Miller wants to be able to finish through contact better. The Big Ten is a physical league and on the road, you don’t get the benefit of the doubt down low. Trayce Jackson-Davis faced some real, Big-Ten length and struggled finding openings down low.
Northwestern has five players averaging 10 points or more per game, two of which are 6-foot-10, Pete Nance (brother of Larry Nance Jr. of the Los Angeles Lakers) and Ryan Young.
Overall, Indiana is still 11-3 and has plenty of opportunities to turn this around. They have he toughest remaining schedule in the country, according to BPI. Yes, that’s not great for a young team, but it’s also more opportunities to get marquee, resume-building wins.
The Hoosiers and Wildcats square off at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Big Ten Network.
(12/26/19 8:16am)
It was late. The only people left in the Peterson Center around 11 p.m. were Brenna and Stu Wise. Brenna was an up-and-coming underclassman for the Pittsburgh Panthers’ women’s basketball team. Stu was a businessman living in Pittsburgh, and Brenna’s dad.
This wasn’t the first time these two had stayed up late to shoot hoops. It certainly wouldn’t be the last time either. But this time was special.
Brenna has always been a great shooter. Her old AAU coach, John Miller, father of Indiana men’s basketball coach Archie Miller, had bought the family a shooting machine for their driveway because he knew Brenna would put it to use.
She stepped to the free-throw line. She made 10 in a row. Then 20. Then 30.
Normally, the father and daughter talk about anything and everything while shooting. But as the number continued to climb, the chatter stopped.
Brenna hit 50. 60. 70. Finally, she missed. She had made 72 free throws in a row.
A lot has changed since that night. Brenna has transferred, moved far away from home, and sat out a full season. But no matter where she is, her dad is always there.
“Those were great nights,” Stu said. “Great bonding for a father and his daughter.”
***
One Easter, with his kids still in grade school, Stu gave Brenna and her brother what she described as “the greatest thing that could have ever happened.” He surprised his kids with a new Guerilla basketball hoop in the driveway. The setup was only enhanced by the addition of John Miller’s shooting machine a few years after.
Basketball has always been in the Wise family, but it wasn’t always the focus for Brenna. As a kid, she was a star in the youth soccer circuit.
In fact, when an AAU coach asked her about taking her basketball career to the next step in fourth grade, she declined.
She said she wasn’t ready. Even as a fourth grader, Brenna knew she didn’t have the necessary drive yet.
An early weakness for Brenna was confidence. She enjoyed watching her brother play but wasn’t sure she was ready for a full-on pursuit of a basketball career.
Her older brother, Ryan, was a solid athlete in high school, playing both basketball and baseball. Stu recalls many days watching the two of them battle relentlessly in the driveway. The competition made Brenna want more.
Before she fully committed to AAU, around fourth grade, she looked at her parents and asked them one simple question.
“Do you think I’ll ever be good enough?”
Stu and his wife answered this the way any parent would answer a question like that from their fourth-grade daughter, with support.
“We just wanted her to be successful,” Stu said. “She put the effort in. She may not be the most athletic, but she’s going to give you everything she’s got.”
The next time Stu asked his daughter if she was ready for AAU, about a year later, she was ready.
***
There was one rule in the Wise household: homework had to be completed before any basketball could be played.
“It was just so great to be outside,” Brenna said. “That was our goal, to go outside.”
They played every game a 10-year-old could ever come up with. One-on-one, horse, puke it (a game in which the ball cannot touch the ground), 21 and many more. Some days they would play horse, but with words as long as supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, just to stay outside.
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But it was more than just games. It was family bonding. It was competition, learning to win, learning to lose.
“Life lessons begin in the driveway,” Brenna said. “That’s where we built our love of the game together.”
Stu recalls one Christmas Eve where Brenna was out in the garage working on her ball handling, despite having snow on the ground and extended family in town. There have been countless other times where she shoveled the driveway just to get some shots up on a cold, winter day.
That Guerilla hoop got so much use the Wises had to change the rim. Stu says it’s still in the house and he is working on finding a place to show it off.
“We kept the rim because it has so many memories,” Brenna said.
All of this work has created a D1-level work ethic for Wise, leading her on a path to Pittsburgh, where she played two seasons. She led Pitt in scoring and rebounding in her two seasons there.
At Indiana, she was third in scoring and was seventh in the NCAA in free-throw percentage in 2018-19. Now she’s the senior leader on a team devoid of seniors. She’s excelling and leading, and she has her dad to thank for that.
“I’m so grateful for my dad because there’s days where I didn’t believe in my dream and he did,” Brenna said. “I’m forever grateful for that. I don’t think I’d be here without that man.”
***
Everything has always been a competition between Brenna and Stu. She described her dad as “a workout fanatic.” He will text her some mornings at 6 a.m., telling her that he worked out already and that “while you’re sleeping, people are out-working you.”
Stu promised Brenna that when she was good enough to compete with him, he would start tying his shoes. By the time she was in 7th grade, his shoes were double knotted, and she was still blowing by him to the basket.
“The gap is increasing,” Brenna said, about whether or not her dad can still hang with her.
While he still competes when they shoot hoops, his main competition now is making it to every game. When Brenna played for Pitt, he was a short 25-30 minute drive from the Peterson Center. Things got more difficult once she transferred to Indiana.
He’s been anywhere from the Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico to UCLA to Minnesota. He can only recall missing two games: last year at Nebraska and one game while she was at Pitt due to a snow storm.
“I think my wife would have killed me if I took the 10-year-old in the snow storm,” Stu said.
It only makes sense that he’s there every step of the way. That’s how it was growing up. They watched basketball, both college and the NBA. He coached her up until her junior high years.
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He’s her ultimate rebounder. While at Pitt, whenever she needed to get shots up, all she had to do was dial up her dad and she would have a rebounder. It didn’t matter if it was 6 a.m. or 11 p.m., he was there.
“I look back at it now and he was probably like, ‘Oh my gosh, what am I doing?’” Brenna said.
These late nights together made her decision in 2017 that much harder. After spending two seasons at Pittsburgh, her hometown school, Brenna decided she wanted a fresh start. She wanted to play in NCAA Tournaments, Sweet 16s, etc., and she didn’t see that happening at Pitt.
“My initial reaction was probably a great idea to at least look a transition if she wanted to reach her goals and I think that was the objective,” Stu said.
He assured Brenna not to worry about the travel time from home. He said they’ll find a way to the games no matter what.
They still train together, even with Brenna at Indiana. When she’s home, that’s at the top of the to-do list every day.
***
Brenna plays with a smile that is almost plastered on her face. It takes a lot to get rid of it.
That’s by design, Stu’s design.
“He always reminds me to smile when I’m out there,” Brenna said. “It’s basketball.”
When Brenna passes any teammate at any time during the game, there’s a high-five attempt. When she takes a charge, she’s pumped, but when someone else takes a charge, she rushes over to be the first one to pull her teammate up and give her a chest bump.
The energy and enthusiasm she plays with is contagious. It mirrors what she’s been taught all her life. Her wanting to be there for her teammates is just like her dad always being there for her, even if it’s just a simple text message.
Even if he won’t admit it, there’s a part of Stu that takes the floor every game for the Hoosiers. And there’s a part of Stu that shoots free throws and 3-pointers well after practice is over. That’s just who the Wises are.
“She deserves all the credit,” Stu said. “She is very, very passionate. I was not nearly as good as her.”
So, it came as no surprise to Stu that in the season opener of 2019, Brenna knocked down her first shot from the floor. It came as no surprise that she started the game 3-for-3. That’s just who she is. That’s who she was raised to be.
“I am not surprised,” Stu said. “She missed a few in the exhibition so she said, ‘I’m going to turn it around to start the game.’”
As the season flips the calendar to 2019, Brenna has a new consecutive made free throws record. One day, during a practice at Indiana, surrounded by her teammates, she knocked down 117 free throws in a row. There was one man missing.
“Unfortunately that wasn’t with him,” Brenna said. “But he believes me. He knows.”
Stu’s been a part of almost every step of the journey for Brenna. Her biggest tribute to him is that now she’s doing it herself by herself. Stu has raised her to be her own player.
“It’s been fun to watch, as a parent, to see your daughter play at something that she loves, enjoys and is passionate about,” Stu said. “Doesn’t get much better.”
(12/22/19 8:21pm)
It’s tough to win a basketball game going over eight minutes without scoring. Indiana (10-2) found that out the hard way Sunday afternoon, falling to No. 10 UCLA (11-0), 68-58.
A huge first-quarter hole proved to be too much to overcome for the Hoosiers. Indiana trailed 15-4 after the first quarter, ending the quarter on a 5:49 stretch without points.
That continued for over two minutes in the second quarter before back-to-back threes from Jaelynn Penn woke the Hoosiers up. But the hole was just too deep for Indiana.
Sloppy, sloppy game
No matter how competitive the game became in the second half, this was not a pretty basketball game.
In the first quarter, Indiana scored four points and shot 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) from the floor. By the end of the first half, Indiana turned the ball over 13 times.
After four quarters of play, Indiana finished with 15 turnovers (much better in the second half), 34.5 percent shooting from the field and 21 percent from three, making only four long balls.
"Some of that had to do with UCLA other parts were due to the fact that we had some nice looks," Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren said. "Our guard play was not very good, below average. Obviously, we struggled from the free throw line."
Sometimes, it’s good defense that forces missed shots and turnovers. Well, defense can’t force missed free throws, and Indiana had plenty of those. They finished 14-for-24 (58 percent) from the line. And hey, the final score was a 10-point game.
UCLA wasn’t a whole lot better. The Bruins finished the day with 13 turnovers and shot the ball at 33 percent from the floor.
Stars were too quiet
In big games, your star players have to step up and make big plays. That didn’t really happen for Indiana. They made a few second-half runs, but for the most part, their stars were quieted by UCLA.
Only one player scored in double figures and that was the freshman Mackenzie Holmes. Brenna Wise finished with nine points on 2-for-9 shooting, Ali Patberg scored nine points on 3-for-11 shooting, and Grace Berger finished with four points on 2-for-7 shooting.
Wise hit a couple big threes but missed many more that could have tied the game. Patberg struggled to keep the UCLA guards in front defensively. Berger was noticeably quiet for most of the game.
"We just couldn’t get over the hump today for so many reasons," Moren said.
In big games, you need your best players to have big games. That was not the case for Indiana on Sunday.
Mackenzie Holmes and the defense shine again
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Hoosiers. Defensively, they held UCLA to 33 percent shooting and 28 percent from long range. The issue was allowing Michaela Onyenwere and Japreece Dean to combine for 49 points. Outside of them, UCLA scored just 19 points.
Outside of Dean’s 10 free throw attempts, the rest of the team combined for only 10 attempts. So, Indiana held an explosive offense in check and kept them off the free throw line, but the offense couldn’t follow suit.
The bright spot offensively was the play of Holmes. She continues to impress in the first half of the season, scoring 13 more points Sunday and added seven rebounds. She stayed out of foul trouble as well, something Indiana really needs from her.
Overall, this was an opportunity blown by Indiana. But, if an off day is good enough to compete with the No. 10 team in the country, that’s a good sign for Indiana. It’s just too hard to win basketball games when you build an 18-4 hole and go over eight minutes without scoring.
The Hoosiers will have a fresh slate next week when they start big ten play against No. 19 Michigan State Saturday afternoon.
(12/20/19 10:41pm)
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Austin Render and Sam Neidermann attempt to tackle a Skype podcast. The guys recap the Nebraska win and a week off for the Hoosiers before taking on Notre Dame tomorrow in Indianapolis.
(12/20/19 5:49am)
Indiana enters the 2019 Crossroads Classic with just as many questions as the past two Classics. In 2017, it was all about figuring out Archie Miller’s system. In 2018, it was about sustaining the early-season success.
In 2019, it’s all about figuring out Indiana’s identity: its defense.
The Hoosiers (10-1) are 145th in the nation in scoring defense, giving up 67 points per game. Albeit a very flawed statistic, Indiana is 183rd in the country in opponent 3-point field goal defense, allowing opponents to shot the ball just under 33 percent from beyond the arc. Finally, Indiana is 220th in the nation in fouls. Through 11 games, Indiana is issuing over 17 fouls per game.
All of that is to show you the many areas Indiana’s defense is falling short in so far this season. These aren’t numbers Archie Miller isn’t aware of. For a coach who wants to hang his hat on defense, he knows they have a long way to go.
Indiana’s defense will be put to the test again Saturday against a Notre Dame team (8-3) that is not shy about shooting threes.
Defend the 3-pointer
As stated earlier, Indiana struggles to defend the 3-point line. Nebraska shot 37.5 percent (12-for-32) from deep in the Hoosiers’ overtime victory, including a 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime.
Notre Dame will test Indiana’s weakness outside the arc. The Irish are 13th in the country in 3-point attempts this season, averaging more than 29 attempts per game.
The Irish shoot 34 percent from deep. Four players shoot over 31 percent from long range, including Dane Goodwin, who shoots 42 percent from outside. T.J. Gibbs (39.7 percent) and Prentiss Hubb (37.1 percent) will put Indiana’s guards to the test on the perimeter.
Irish big man John Mooney will challenge Joey Brunk with his interior play and his ability to shoot threes. He is only shooting 31.4 percent this season, but he’s not afraid to shoot the long ball.
In Notre Dame’s most recent action, a 75-61 win over UCLA, the Irish shot 15-for-39 (38.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
A tough matchup down low
As much as Notre Dame likes to shoot three pointers, they ride and die with the big man down low. Mooney is averaging 14.8 points and 13.4 rebounds per game, both best on the team.
The last time Indiana saw Notre Dame in 2017, Mooney played 15 minutes and scored six points. He’s come a long way since then. Last season he was named to the 2019 All-ACC Third Team. He was the leading rebounder in the ACC with 11.2 per game and 12.6 per conference game.
He had 13 double doubles in ACC play, the most since Tim Duncan’s 15 in 1996-97. He also finished the season as a 37.8 percent three-point shooter. He shot 41.9 percent from deep as a sophomore. In his Notre Dame career, the big man is shooting over 38 percent.
Indiana has had trouble against versatile 5s. Nate Reuvers gave Brunk fits to the point where he didn’t play much in the second half. Akok Akok was a shot-blocking machine at Madison Square Garden. As important as Brunk is to this team’s success, against a good shooter like Mooney, Indiana may be best suited to play Trayce Jackson-Davis more at the 5.
Getting healthy
Indiana hasn’t played since Friday, Dec. 13. That’s a solid eight days off after playing four games in 11 days. Indiana went 3-1 in those four games, losing the only road game of the four.
They’ve recently added Rob Phinisee back to the lineup, which should tremendously improve the on-ball defense. Miller has talked many times about the team's inability to guard guards, and a healthy Phinisee should help with that. This extended break also gives him a chance to practice with the rest of the team, something he hasn’t done much of all season.
Devonte Green is dealing with some soreness and may have to miss Saturday’s game. If that’s the case, Indiana will need another big effort from Armaan Franklin, who has grown up fast in Miller’s system.
After going from Madison to Bloomington to New York City back to Bloomington in the span of a couple days, this eight-day break should help Indiana get rested and refueled for Christmas break. After this Notre Dame game, another eight-day break awaits before hosting Arkansas.
The Hoosiers and Fighting Irish will tipoff at noon at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
(12/10/19 7:44pm)
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In a press conference this week, Teri Moren said Bendu Yeaney may be ready to play on Wednesday against Butler. That would be in addition to an already 8-1 Indiana team who just added two more wins against No. 21 Miami and North Florida. Austin Render and Drake Garbacik discuss all the happenings around the most exciting team on campus.
(12/09/19 7:05pm)
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Indiana split the last week of action with a huge 80-64 win over Florida State but then a disappointing 84-64 loss at Wisconsin. The guys spend a lot of time trying to figure out what went wrong at the Kohl Center and discuss who the real Indiana basketball really is. They also preview a Tuesday night matchup with UConn in the Garden.
(12/03/19 7:55pm)
Indiana knocked off No. 5 South Carolina and Washington State and hung around with No. 2 Baylor in the Paradise Jam over Thanksgiving break. Our guys are back together to talk about their takeaways from a busy week of basketball.
(12/02/19 7:44pm)
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Indiana Men's Basketball is 7-0, but they haven't really been tested yet. That all begins Tuesday night when No. 17 Florida State comes to town. That's followed by 3 games in 7 days. Austin Render, Jackson Yeary and Sam Neidermann are back with a new edition of the Indiana Men's Basketball Podcast.
(11/21/19 9:44pm)
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IUWBB heads south to take on Florida and then to the Virgin Islands for a three game set with South Carolina, Baylor and Washington State. Austin Render and Jack Ankony recap the Jackson State win and preview what's to come over Thanksgiving Break.
(11/21/19 1:52pm)
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With the Zionsville Eagles hockey club in overtime in the 2013 state semifinals, a talented freshman took the ice.
There was no doubt in head coach Aaron Wallace’s mind the freshman would be on the ice for this season-defining overtime period. He had a knack for scoring.
“I can remember the goal without even watching it,” Wallace said.
Behind the opposing team’s net, the freshman stole the puck from the defender, skated around the goal, made the goalie miss and scored the game-winning goal. Zionsville was on to the state championship.
That was only one of the many memorable moments Thomas Warr provided throughout his four years with the hockey team.
“He did that stuff, every year, all the time,” Wallace said.
Zionsville went on to win the state championship that season, led by Thomas and his older brother, Max. Thomas was the team’s leading scorer and captain during his junior and senior seasons, and tied for second in the state with his 50 goals as a senior.
But even with all that success, he chose soccer. Warr is now a redshirt junior at Indiana, a permanent fixture in the Hoosiers’ rotation, mostly off the bench as an energizer. He has two goals this season and four during his three years in Bloomington.
His soccer years have not made him forget his hockey years. In fact, if it weren’t for all of his time spent on the rink, he may not be the soccer player he is today.
“Hockey taught me so much in the game of soccer,” Warr said.
***
It started young in the Warr family. His dad, Alastair, had Thomas in skates as soon as he could walk. At the age of 3, he was already pursuing a future on the ice.
A frozen pond symbolized an opportunity to skate and play the game he loved. He rarely passed up an opportunity to skate with his friends during the winter months.
As he moved into high school, he continued to balance hockey and soccer, something most athletes don’t do anymore.
He transitioned to the Indiana Fire Academy to continue his soccer path as a junior in high school, but that didn’t mean hockey was finished.
“That was something that was really important to me, playing in academy that I could continue to play hockey,” Warr said. “Obviously it’s really important to me.”
Hockey remained essential for him, so much so that his coach, Wallace, named him team captain for both his junior and senior seasons.
“Even though soccer was his thing, I knew how much he loved this hockey team and cared about this hockey team,” Wallace said.
In soccer, he was fifth in the nation in goals per game. In hockey, he was second in the state of Indiana with 50 goals as a senior.
It wasn’t about the goals though. The state championship, the memories of sharing the ice with his brother, those are the important moments of his hockey years.
“Stats don’t really matter,” Warr said. “I have families for life through hockey.”
***
Wallace described Warr as “goofy,” always willing to have fun and mess around with the older kids on the team.
“He was never awkward, he’s just a goofball,” Wallace joked.
But Warr did have to get serious around the end of his freshman season when he realized he had to choose a path to take, soccer o
r hockey.
It required a lot of one-on-one conversations with his parents, his coaches, but most importantly, himself.
In the winter, he favored hockey. In the warmer months, he favored soccer. He battled this for some time.
“I liked hockey more when I was in hockey season, I liked soccer more when I was in soccer season,” Warr said.
Wallace was also there every step of the way, helping Warr with whatever he needed. He knew no matter which sport he chose, he would be successful.
“He had every opportunity under the sun in hockey,” Wallace said.
Warr ultimately decided on soccer, and it was his time with the Indiana Fire Academy a few years later that cemented his decision. He realized soccer made him the happiest.
He continued to play hockey with Zionsville all four years, even after moving to the Indiana Fire Academy for soccer as a junior. He's incredibly thankful for his soccer club allowing him to continue playing hockey.
Wallace isn’t sure he’ll ever have a player as talented as Warr.
“I’m extremely lucky to have had him all four years,” Wallace said. “I love that kid.”
Soccer hasn’t taken Warr away from the ice completely. This past winter, he returned home to Zionsville for an alumni game.
He said that he was “terrible,” but that’s hard to buy, coming from a man who scored 50 goals in a single season. He said he had to get the rust off early.
The more important part of the reunion was the people he played with. Former teammates, coaches and friends.
“It was a blast getting back out there, keeping my roots,” Warr said.
He reiterated that there was no contact, making sure his current coach, Todd Yeagley, wasn’t worried about injuries.
“There’s no contact coach, don’t freak out,” Warr joked, looking straight over at Yeagley.
***
Thomas is the perfect argument against specialization.
So many kids are deciding at a young age what sport they want to play and solely playing that sport. Some kids will start playing hockey as early as four or five and by the time they reach Zionsville’s program and coach Wallace, they’re burned out.
“There’s too much in this life to enjoy,” Wallace said.
Wallace goes as far as to tell his players, once the season is done in March, to do anything except hockey until at least June. Their season starts up again in August.
Even though hockey wasn’t where Thomas ultimately ended up going, Wallace was always there to help however he could, and Thomas was always there to help the team however he could.
And even if soccer isn’t where Warr goes after college, Wallace is sure that he will succeed in whatever path he chooses.
“I know he’s going to do special things, whether it’s on the soccer field or in a job.”
(11/19/19 9:47pm)
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Indiana Men's Basketball is 4-0 for the first time under Archie Miller. But, they haven't really played anyone of note yet. We're getting closer to some good games, and Austin Render, Sam Neidermann and Jackson Yeary break down what they've seen so far and discuss the remaining matchups on Indiana's schedule in the month of November.