186 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(01/15/21 4:05am)
There were good stretches, energized efforts as a team, and it even was a one-point game with 13 minutes to go, but none of that mattered as the same narrative rang true again.
Purdue executed at a higher rate, shot the ball better, and was far more disciplined than Indiana.
Indiana fell well short yet again to Purdue, 81-69, at home in Bloomington on Thursday night in a crucial loss to the Boilermakers. Indiana’s record now stands at 8-6 overall with a 3-4 Big Ten mark.
This was Purdue’s eighth consecutive win over the Hoosiers. Indiana head coach Archie Miller remains winless against Purdue in his tenure with an 0-6 record.
“It gets kind of old, we wanted to beat a team, change the culture about it,” Indiana sophomore Armaan Franklin said of the losing streak to Purdue.
Franklin made his first appearance since injuring his ankle against Maryland on Jan. 4. The sophomore had 14 points and seven rebounds in his return, but he was one of Indiana’s few bright spots.
Fellow sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis led the team with 25 points and junior Race Thompson chipped in 13, but outside of those three there was practically no production from the rest of Indiana’s roster.
Indiana’s starting and veteran guards in Rob Phinisee and Al Durham combined for just seven points.
Due to the lack of guard production, Indiana’s one-dimensional attack of pounding the paint was its only source of scoring. While Jackson-Davis was dominant near the basket, his teammates couldn't score much away from the paint.
The Hoosiers shot a season-worst 16.7% (3-for-18) from 3-point range. Outside of Jerome Hunter’s 2-for-5 3-point shooting display, the six other players who attempted from deep only combined to make one.
To make matters worse, Indiana could not shoot well from the free-throw line, either. The Hoosiers got to the line plenty, but barely made over half their attempts, going 16-for-29 from the charity stripe.
While Indiana’s offense stumbled, Purdue’s did not. Purdue did the opposite of Indiana from the 3-point line and continually torched the Hoosier defense.
“To be honest with you, they could pretty much do whatever they wanted to do,” Miller said of Purdue’s offensive attack. “We had no answer.”
The Boilermakers were extremely efficient from deep, making 11 of their 17 3-point attempts while starting the game 7-for-9. Five Purdue players found rhythm from beyond the arc with Eric Hunter, Jaden Ivey and Brandon Newman each making multiple. Hunter was particularly impressive, making 3 of 4 shots from the 3-point line.
In addition to Purdue’s 3-point barrage, there was plenty of production in the post, too. Junior center Trevion Williams methodically worked his way around the paint for 22 points.
With Indiana’s defense not executing in the paint or from deep, it allowed the Boilermakers to score 11 points more than their season average of 70.3 points per game.
“At the end of the day we just could not get stops,” Miller said. “We didn’t deserve to win the game.”
The loss really puts Indiana in an uncomfortable spot moving forward. They are now over the halfway mark of the season with only 13 games left. All 13 are challenging, but the next five are particularly tough.
The originally scheduled game at Michigan State for this Sunday has been postponed due to an outbreak of coronavirus with the Spartans. Now, Indiana will have a week to rest before playing at No. 5 Iowa.
From there, the remaining five game slate features Rutgers, No. 14 Illinois, Iowa again at home, and a road trip to No. 7 Michigan.
That slew of ranked opponents with no momentum might be daunting, but Miller hinted at the team needing to take it one game at a time, even if it was an ugly loss to their rival.
“At the end of the day in this league one loss feels monumental…but there’s a lot more coming,” Miller said. “We have to be better and we have to be ready.”
(01/13/21 7:24pm)
On the precipice of the second half of its schedule, Indiana has a monumental matchup Thursday in Bloomington that could swing the momentum of the season tremendously upward or send it spiraling downward.
NCAA Tournament resume strength, conference standing, Archie Miller’s record, the program’s perception and recruiting implications are all on the line.
You guessed it. Indiana will host its rival, the Purdue Boilermakers on Thursday.
Direction of the season
Beyond any preconceived energy that the rivalry matchup entails, this game is an important one for Indiana’s hopes of making the NCAA Tournament in March.
It might be weird to say that statement at the halfway mark of the season, but with how Indiana’s remaining schedule shapes up with the difficulty of the Big Ten, this game could have impact down the road.
Including Thursday’s contest, Indiana has 14 remaining games in the regular season. Of those 14 games, seven are at home and seven are on the road, with a total of seven of those games being against teams who are currently ranked.
The immediate stretch after the Purdue game is particularly difficult, too. It is a six-game swing that includes four road games and four ranked teams. Three of the games are against top-10 teams, including home and away games against No. 5 Iowa and a trip to No. 7 Michigan.
A potential win against Purdue on Thursday could provide Indiana with some momentum moving into that difficult stretch. It would also be Indiana’s fourth win in five games while boosting the team to a possible 4-3 Big Ten record.
A win over Purdue would give extra importance to Indiana’s season resume strength as well. While Indiana is 3-3 in the Big Ten, all three of its wins come from the conference’s bottom three teams right now. Maryland, Penn State and Nebraska are Nos. 12-14 in the Big Ten standings, respectively.
Purdue, like Indiana, is 3-3 in conference and is in a four-way tie for fifth in the league along with Indiana, Ohio State and Northwestern.
Archie Miller and the program’s perception
When solely looking at Indiana’s rivalry with Purdue in the past few years, it isn’t pretty.
The Hoosiers have not beaten Purdue since Tom Crean was the head coach in Bloomington, back on Feb. 20, 2016. Since then, Indiana is 0-7 against the Boilermakers.
In the Archie Miller era alone, Indiana is 0-5 against Purdue.
Being winless against Purdue and not making the NCAA Tournament have been Miller’s two biggest complaints from the fanbase in his four years at IU.
The NCAA Tournament complaint is a little bit unfair considering they were a practical lock to make it last season before COVID-19 shut down the sport, but Miller can start wiping away one of his two major struggles if he can beat Purdue on Thursday.
For the sake of gaining ground for the season’s momentum as well as eliminating the losing streak against the program’s biggest rival, the Purdue game is a practical must-win for Miller and the team.
A win would do wonders in giving Miller more support the fanbase as it would remove the “can’t beat Purdue” label from Miller’s resume at Indiana.
Scouting Purdue
On paper, the Boilermakers look similar to Indiana.
Both teams share an 8-5 record with a 3-3 conference mark. The Boilermakers lacked any big nonconference wins but have beaten some good Big Ten teams.
Purdue’s conference wins include one similar win to Indiana, in Maryland, but Purdue also beat formerly No. 23 Michigan State in East Lansing and No. 21 Ohio State in West Lafayette.
In their conference losses to No. 5 Iowa, Rutgers and No. 14 Illinois — all of which were on the road — the Boilermakers were competitive for most of the game, but could not execute down the stretch.
Also, like Indiana, Purdue’s strength tends to be defensive play with an offense that isn’t going to score an absurd number of points.
Purdue is holding opponents to 66.2 points per game, while scoring 70.3 points per contest.
Per usual, Purdue’s team is anchored by its post play. Trevion Williams, a 6-foot-9 center, has emerged as the team’s definitive best player this season. He is a threat on offense and defense, scoring a team-high 15.0 points per game while leading in rebounding too, with 9.5 boards per game. The junior is also an excellent passer for a post player, having 31 assists this season, tied for second-most on the team.
Backing up Williams in the post is freshman center Zach Edey who is also a load to handle. The freshman is still adjusting to Big Ten play and is very raw, but he is 7-foot-4, scores 8.8 points per game and makes 62.3% of his shots. He is a strong rim protector and makes working in the paint extremely difficult for opponents.
The Boilermakers also have a slew of talented guards. Sasha Stefanovic, Eric Hunter and Brandon Newman make up for the rest of the majority of Purdue’s scoring. Each average between nine and 10 points per game.
While Purdue has great ability with its post players, the guards and wings can really beat teams with their ability to shoot. Purdue shoots 35.8% from the 3-point line. Stefanovic, Newman and sophomore Isaiah Thompson require particular defensive attention as all of them are 40% or better from 3-point range.
Stefanovic is the best sharpshooter of the group, making 49.3% of his looks from deep.
While Purdue has the ability to shoot well, seemingly every time these two teams meet in the Miller era it’s a low-scoring dogfight of a game.
It wouldn’t be shocking to see something like that again as both teams are fighting for a win to separate themselves into the upper tier of the Big Ten.
(01/11/21 2:50am)
Despite Indiana getting off to its best start of any game all season, an inability to protect leads nearly cost the Hoosiers a must-have game against Nebraska in Lincoln.
The first half looked to be a breeze for the Hoosiers, leading by 12 points at halftime and carrying as much of an 18-point advantage while shooting 53.8% from 3-point range.
Then the defensive focus dropped, deep shots weren’t going down, and Nebraska had a 63-62 lead at the 9:39 mark of the second half. The rest of the game remained competitive, but Indiana closed it on a 22-13 run for the remainder, doing much of the work at the free-throw line to seal it.
“Had to deal with a lot of uncomfortable situations there late in the second half to put us in a tough spot,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said. “We got a couple key stops, we were able to execute, we made a couple free throws, we were able to win the game.”
Indiana beat Nebraska, 84-76, to earn its first true road win of the season and improve to 8-5 on the season and 3-3 in the Big Ten.
Protecting leads and control of the game have been a prevalent issue for Indiana throughout all of conference play in both its wins and losses. Most recently at No. 8 Wisconsin on Thursday, Indiana could not close the game and lost in double overtime.
Moreover, Indiana did not finish strong in its other two conference losses against Northwestern at home and at Illinois in late December. In each game Indiana had a lead in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Indiana also saw command of its home game against Penn State evaporate and needed overtime to win that one, too.
The difference with Sunday's game against the Cornhuskers, though, was that lost control came early in the second half. This shows that no matter what point in the game it is, the Hoosiers struggle to protect their advantage.
Against Nebraska, Indiana took its foot off the gas offensively and got lazy on defense early in the second half, allowing Nebraska to climb back in it.
Starting at the 12:58 mark, when Indiana was up 60-51, Nebraska went on a 12-2 run comprised of nine points from the paint or free-throw line to earn the lead at 9:39, 63-62.
“Our effort getting back and our effort on the ball in the second half as they spread the floor and started to drive became problematic,” Miller said.
After a 7-for-13 showing from deep in the first half, Indiana fell in love with the 3-pointer after halftime, which hurt the team. The second half 3-point shooting display was much worse for the Hoosiers, only making 2 of 11.
[embed]https://twitter.com/TheHoosierNet/status/1348451410283802624[/embed]
In that process, Indiana did not look for its star sophomore and best scorer, Trayce Jackson-Davis, much in the post. He scored nine of his 15 total points from the free-throw line and only took seven shots for the game.
Nebraska made getting the ball to Jackson-Davis very difficult, implementing a zone that double-teamed the sophomore in the paint every time he caught the ball. The Cornhuskers dared Indiana to shoot it from deep, which is a big reason why it became a close game.
Indiana overcame its breakdown due to a collective rebounding effort, outrebounding Nebraska by 11 despite a height disadvantage, and the Hoosiers only had eight turnovers.
Veteran guards Rob Phinisee and Al Durham were key in second-leading scorer Armaan Franklin’s second game missed due to injury. Phinisee played his best game of the season, leading the team with 18 points. Durham provided 17 points, too.
“Just being the upperclassmen, we have to step up,” Phinisee said of him and Durham. “We just took what the defense gave us.”
Phinisee and Durham’s effort were paramount to an extremely important game for Indiana. The Hoosiers could not afford to lose to Nebraska, who is at the bottom of the Big Ten standings with a 4-8 record and is 0-5 in conference.
With the Big Ten being the gauntlet it is, a loss to the Cornhuskers would have been a serious thorn in Indiana’s hopes of making the NCAA Tournament.
The Hoosiers are just under the halfway mark of the season and 10 of their remaining 14 games include teams that are currently ranked.
(01/10/21 3:51pm)
Just a few days ago, Indiana barely lost on the road to No. 8 Wisconsin, 80-73, and in addition to losing the game, they lost any potential comfort that would’ve come from a win.
Had the Hoosiers held on at the end of Thursday’s game, the perception of Indiana’s season would be looking differently. Indiana could’ve stolen a win on the road in the conference to break .500 in the Big Ten and earned a road win against a top-10 team to bolster its resume.
That is not the reality, though, and Indiana is 7-5 overall with a 2-3 conference mark. Once again, Indiana finds itself in an important game this Sunday to get back to an even conference record and carry some momentum before a tremendously difficult stretch of games.
Indiana will wrap up its two-game road trip against Nebraska in Lincoln.
The Cornhuskers are off to a difficult start to their season, currently holding a 4-7 record and an 0-4 mark in the Big Ten. Additionally, they do not have a win over a high-major opponent yet.
Three of their four Big Ten games have been double-digit losses, but their most recent game, a Jan. 2 home game against Michigan State was competitive, losing 84-77.
Nebraska has also had over a week off of rest. The Cornhuskers’ scheduled game against Purdue last Tuesday was postponed due to health issues between the teams, but there were no official cases of COVID-19 announced for either team.
A big part of Nebraska’s struggles thus far has been adjusting to an unfamiliar roster in a shortened season. Nebraska had eight players leave the program from a season ago, many of whom were key players. They have eight newcomers this season.
The lack of roster continuity has resulted in a lot of early season struggles for the Cornhuskers and that shows in the Big Ten’s statistical standings.
In both total points scored per game and points allowed per game, Nebraska ranks in the bottom four of the league. The Cornhuskers score 74.9 points per game, the No. 11 ranking in the Big Ten. That is two spots better than Indiana, but Nebraska is also No. 13 in the league for scoring defense, allowing an average of 73.5 points per game.
Nebraska’s average percentage on field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws are all also in the bottom tier of the conference.
FG%: No. 13 (41.5%)
3FG%: No. 12 (31.5%)
FT%: No. 13 (65.7%)
There is one area that Nebraska really excels in, though — rebounding. The Cornhuskers are No. 5 in the conference with an average of 38.9 rebounds per game. With Indiana typically struggling a bit on the glass, this will be an interesting matchup to look out for.
In addition to the effort on the glass, the size of Nebraska’s starting lineup, and in the depth of the roster could pose challenges for Indiana. The Cornhuskers start a taller lineup compared to the average Hoosier.
Nebraska’s typical starting group looks like:
Teddy Allen, guard, junior, 6-foot-6
Trey McGowens, guard, junior, 6-foot-4
Lat Mayen, forward, junior, 6-foot-9
Dalano Banton, guard, sophomore, 6-foot-9
Yvan Ouedraogo, forward, sophomore, 6-foot-9
Dealing with the size could be challenging for the Hoosiers who only have four players who are 6-foot-7 or taller healthy.
With Indiana’s depth already reduced to nine available scholarship players due to Joey Brunk and Armaan Franklin’s injuries, the height disadvantage could be even more difficult.
As seen against Wisconsin, two of Indiana’s taller players — Jerome Hunter and Race Thompson — dealt with foul trouble for the majority of the game. The far-smaller rotation led to fatigue down the stretch of the game.
This game will likely include a lot more playing time for 6-foot-7 freshman Jordan Geronimo, who sparingly receives much time on the court.
Individually, Indiana will have to pay particular attention to Allen and Banton of Nebraska. Allen is the team’s leading scorer with 18.2 points per game and has 5.1 rebounds per contest, too.
Banton runs Nebraska’s offense, leading the team with nearly five assists a game while also chipping in 6.9 rebounds and 12.8 points per game, as well.
Regardless of any stat or matchup situation, Indiana and Nebraska always proved to be a memorable game in each of their three meetings last year.
The first meeting in December 2019 was an overtime thriller in Bloomington with Indiana pulling away for a win. The second was a competitive game in Lincoln with another Indiana win in January 2020. The third one was really the interesting one, though.
The final game came on March 11, 2020 where Indiana won again, but it was the last Big Ten athletic event of the school year before the rest of the season shut down due to coronavirus the very next day.
It’ll be interesting to see how things shake out Sunday, but what is for certain is that both teams are in need of a win.
(01/08/21 4:03am)
Coming up slightly short in close games against good teams is becoming all too familiar for Indiana men’s basketball this season.
The recurring theme rang true once again Thursday as Indiana squandered a number of late-game opportunities and lost to No. 8 Wisconsin on the road in double overtime, 80-73.
The loss drops Indiana to 7-5 on the season and 2-3 in the Big Ten. This was the Hoosiers’ 18th consecutive loss in Madison, as they stay winless in the Kohl Center since January 1998.
“We gave ourselves a great chance to win this game a number of times,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said. “Give them credit, they made a lot of winning plays at the end.”
Missed opportunities
The second overtime period was all Wisconsin, outscoring the Hoosiers 10-3, but at the end of regulation and in the first overtime period Indiana had legitimate opportunities to win it. Neither of Indiana’s game-winning opportunities panned out and Wisconsin senior guard D’Mitrik Trice always had an answer.
Down the stretch in the second half of regulation, Jerome Hunter dunked with 41 seconds to go to take a 61-59 lead. Trice answered the bell, though, made a jumper with 21 seconds to tie and then Trayce Jackson-Davis’ final shot, a close-range layup was just off.
The end of the first overtime was very similar. Al Durham converted on an and-1, made the free throw and got Indiana ahead 69-67. Once again, Trice tied it with a step-back jumper in the paint. Then, Indiana’s last possession of the period turned into a turnover as Wisconsin’s Brad Davison tied up with Al Durham for a jump ball.
“We wanted to give Al Durham an opportunity to see if he could maybe clear it out on that left side,” Miller said of the failed play that resulted in the jump ball. “They must have done a good job of really keeping him from being able to get by.”
Moral victories only mean so much in a loss, but there are a lot of positives for Indiana, going toe-to-toe on the road with a top-10 team without leading perimeter scorer in Armaan Franklin. The sophomore wing was out with a rolled ankle.
[embed]https://twitter.com/IndianaOnBTN/status/1347359314797727744[/embed]
The team’s veteran guards woke up from their slump and the bench provided a huge lift when desperately needed. Jackson-Davis dominated per usual, going for 23 points and 12 rebounds, but the supplemental help from the others is why Indiana took Wisconsin to the wire.
Upperclassmen looked like upperclassmen
For the first time in a long time, Durham and Rob Phinisee each performed up to expectations. The backcourt duo was successful in both scoring and moving the ball. Each player had a big, clutch moment, too.
Durham had the and-1 layup at the end of the first overtime while contributing with 15 points and five assists.
Phinisee scored 10 points and assisted six times, too. At the 1:27 mark of the second half, the junior nailed a go-ahead, 3-pointer to take a two-point lead.
“The fact that right now those guys are starting to really pick it up a little bit is a great sign,” Miller said of the veteran guards. “Al has done a really good job for us. Rob has played much, much better.”
With Franklin out, this was the perfect game for the upperclassmen guards to reassert themselves. Each had been showing signs of normalcy over the course of the past few games, but it came to fruition against the Badgers.
Hunter and Leal surprise
With Indiana’s smaller rotation of only nine players, bench points were necessary. Jerome Hunter and Anthony Leal scored the entirety of those, with a combined 21 points.
Hunter provided a big lift, giving the burst of impact he was expected to bring entering the season. The sophomore wing
scored 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field with two 3-pointers as well.
He also made an impact on the glass, as he grabbed seven rebounds. With Race Thompson sitting a lot due to foul trouble, Hunter’s effort in the post took some of the burden off Jackson-Davis against a physical Wisconsin team.
Hunter’s confidence shot up after the Maryland win, but Leal’s performance was a pleasant surprise for the Hoosiers.
The freshman guard destroyed his career-high for minutes played in a game and in scoring output. Prior to Thursday's game, Leal had only played 68 minutes all season with a game-high of 18.
On Thursday, he registered 35 minutes and was 3-for-6 from 3-point range for nine total points. The knockdown shooting ability is something Indiana had been missing all season.
Leal started 2-for-2 from deep in the first half, giving the Hoosiers a spark of momentum when down to make it a 29-24 game going into half. That momentum carried over to the second half and earned Leal the right to play the vast majority of the remainder of the game.
“Anthony works his behind off, he’s one of the harder workers on the team,” Durham said of his freshman teammate. “I’m not surprised about what he did tonight.”
(01/07/21 4:15pm)
For the first time in a while this season, Indiana men’s basketball has built some momentum.
Following a second half turnaround and eight-point home win over Maryland, the Hoosiers have won two games in a row to even their conference record to 2-2.
Their recent stretch of good play will be tested Thursday night, though, as Indiana will go to Madison and take on No. 8 Wisconsin (9-2).
The game would have been a challenge regardless, but with sophomore guard and second-leading scorer Armaan Franklin likely out due to rolling his ankle against Maryland, it is going to be far more difficult.
Indiana found a way to battle and beat Maryland without the 12.7 points per game and 41.4% 3-point field goal percentage that Franklin provides, but to do the same against a loaded Wisconsin group is going to be very challenging.
Replacing Franklin's production in his absence
When looking for how to fill the void, Indiana may have to experiment some. The starting lineup will likely welcome junior guard Rob Phinisee to fill Franklin’s spot for the time, but he and the rest of the guards have not been nearly the consistent scoring threats that Franklin is.
Phinisee, Al Durham, Trey Galloway and Jerome Hunter — all of the usual wing scorers outside of Franklin — have struggled to score the ball with consistency all year. This could be an opportunity to potentially see more playing time out of freshman guard Anthony Leal.
“I feel like I’m pretty prepared in terms of the fundamentals and knowing where I need to be and being in the right position,”
Leal said in a press conference Tuesday.
The freshman guard has had scattered amounts of playing time throughout the year, only playing in six games and averaging about 5.7 minutes per game. He did receive 12 minutes against Maryland, though.
Despite the inexperience, Leal was a four-star recruit out of high school and was recruited to be a scorer and lethal shooter from distance for Indiana. With Franklin not there, it may be necessary that Leal sees the floor more if Indiana wants a chance against the Badgers.
The balanced and versatile Badgers are a nightmare for about anyone, boasting experience, height, defensive discipline and offensive efficiency. They shoot 46.7% from the field and 41.4% from 3-point range.
The efficiency has led them to a scoring average of 76.2 points per game while also having an average scoring margin of 15.7 points per game. This has been done throughout the course of a season with wins over the likes of Louisville, Michigan State and Minnesota.
Leal was known to be a prolific shooter in high school and has been working at it in college, too. If he gets good minutes, confidently shoots and is aggressive, Indiana might be able to replace the scoring lost from Franklin while competing with the Badgers.
“I’ve started to make 500 3s per day, and I try to hold myself accountable to doing that,” Leal said. “I know it’s not only going to make me a better shooter, but it’s going to increase my confidence.”
In addition to not playing many minutes, Leal has not had many shots attempts all season. He has only made one of his six field goals this year and that one make was a 3-pointer. In games he has played well defensively and as a strong passer and system player.
While 1-for-6 isn’t great, the phrase “shooters shoot” is true. Leal has to look for his shot and find his rhythm in order to make an impact in that aspect of that game.
The freshman is familiar with having to make an impact coming off the bench, though. Leal said in the press conference that in his first game of high school basketball at Bloomington South, his team only had six available players and he was the one guy who didn’t start.
“It’s just part of the process,” Leal said. “I learned that in high school and now I’m trusting it through college knowing that just whenever I get in, I have to play my role and play as hard as I can.”
Hoosiers' struggles with Wisconsin
There is no way to predict if Leal will get legitimate minutes or not against Wisconsin, but regardless of i how much he plays, Indiana will need an all-in effort to beat the Badgers.
No matter what year or ranking Wisconsin may have, Indiana always seems to struggle against the Badgers. Just a season ago, immediately after Indiana started 8-0 and beat No. 17 Florida State, the team got destroyed by Wisconsin, losing by 20 on the road.
The road struggles against Wisconsin are very common as Indiana has not won in Madison since 1998.
This year’s Wisconsin team is about as experienced as a team can be in college basketball. Five seniors start, and three of them are redshirt seniors.
The Badgers’ starting lineup is:
D’Mitrik Trice, redshirt senior, guard, 6-foot
Brad Davison, senior, guard, 6-foot-4
Aleem Ford, redshirt senior, forward, 6-foot-8
Micah Potter, redshirt senior, forward, 6-foot-10
Nate Reuvers, senior, forward, 6-foot-11
All five of them average double-digits in scoring, with Trice being the leader with 14.2 points per game, and nobody else scoring fewer than 10.
(01/05/21 4:58am)
Indiana barely made it past the first media timeout of the game against Maryland at home Monday night when disaster struck.
Second-leading scorer and rapidly improving sophomore Armaan Franklin went down on a fast break with an apparent rolled ankle and had to be helped off the floor. The Hoosiers’ best defender and perimeter scorer was out for the rest of the night and a dismal, 21-point first half offensive performance followed.
Indiana didn't fold, though. Indiana’s post players rallied the shorthanded team for a complete second-half comeback to beat Maryland, 63-55. The win improves Indiana to 2-2 in the Big Ten and 7-4 overall. It is also Indiana’s first win over Maryland since the 2017-2018 season.
“The tale of two halves really was offensively,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said. “In the second half… we were much more physical around the basket… much more physical on the offensive glass.”
Toughness around the rim in the second half flipped Indiana’s 27-21 halftime deficit to an eight-point win where the Hoosiers dominated down the stretch.
The Hoosiers really could not have started much worse on offense, shooting 9-for-30 from the field and 0-for-9 from 3-point range to start. Star sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis also was slumping in the early period with five points on 2-for-9 shooting.
Jackson-Davis found his touch in the second half and forward Race Thompson erupted with him. Jackson-Davis finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds while Thompson had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The post duo owning the glass led Indiana to outrebounding Maryland 43-33, gave Indiana 14 second-chance points, and kept a number of dead possessions alive. The advantage on the glass resulted in Indiana outscoring the Terrapins 42-28 after halftime.
In a game where Indiana shot an abysmal 18.4% (4-for-22) from 3-point range, the rebounding effort was necessary to win.
“The rebounding was huge,” Miller said. “When Trayce and Race rebound like that offensively and defensively we are a much better team.”
[embed]https://twitter.com/TheHoosierNet/status/1346317315437019136[/embed]
While Indiana improved tremendously in the second half on offense, the defense was consistent throughout the whole game. Maryland’s 55 points were the Terrapins’ lowest output in Big Ten play.
Heavy on-ball pressure, locking up the perimeter and better coverage around the post led to Maryland’s 38.5% shooting night and only 28% shooting from 3-point range.
“I thought we did really well with switching off coverages… and being able to keep them (Maryland) in front,” Jackson-Davis said about what worked in Indiana’s consistent defensive effort.
What may have made Indiana’s win more impressive than anything, though, was that Indiana executed well down the stretch. The final eight-minute stretch in Big Ten games has plagued the Hoosiers prior to the Maryland contest. It cost them potential wins against Northwestern and Illinois and nearly did against Penn State.
Rather than collapse at the same spot, as usual, Indiana locked in and played its best stretch of the game. When Indiana looked to be in for the usual situation with 8:45 to go in the second half, leading in a close game, 47-45, the team didn’t waiver and finished.
The Hoosiers closed out Maryland without any drama during the final 8:45 with a 16-10 run, by chewing clock with good shot selection and forcing the Terrapins to send Indiana to the free-throw line.
“We hadn’t been able to close here recently defensively,” Miller said. “We just didn’t give the avalanche of points up in the last eight minutes of the game that we had done in the past.”
The growth displayed by Indiana earned this crucial win and a clean slate in the team's Big Ten record. Now at a .500, a 2-2 record compared to the 0-2 conference start, Indiana can breathe a little bit.
Their next game may be one of their most difficult one of conference play, though, as Indiana travels to No. 8 Wisconsin likely without Armaan Franklin.
Miller said Franklin will likely be doubtful for the next two games, meaning that Wisconsin is almost certainly a no-go for the sophomore. While that game is daunting, the Hoosiers may have struck a bit of luck for potential extra recovery time for Franklin.
Tuesday’s game between Nebraska and Purdue was postponed due to COVID-19 testing results between the teams Monday afternoon. There hasn’t been information released about which team, or if both teams, have issues, but the two teams are Indiana’s next two games following Wisconsin.
Indiana is scheduled to play in Lincoln on Sunday and host Purdue next Thursday. If either, or both, of those games are postponed, Indiana may be fortunate enough to play fewer games without Franklin.
(01/03/21 8:01pm)
After barely escaping with a win to snap its two-game losing streak in the Big Ten against Penn State, Indiana has another tough task ahead.
At 8 p.m. Monday, Indiana will welcome Maryland to Assembly Hall. This game will serve as an opportunity for Indiana to get back to .500 in conference play.
With the Big Ten being the gauntlet that it is, this feels like another must-win situation for the Hoosiers. Every Big Ten game is difficult, as is the case with Maryland, but with Indiana desperately needing to get its footing right moving forward, the team needs this.
Analyzing Maryland
Through 10 games, Maryland has the same record as Indiana, at 6-4 overall, but is 1-3 in conference. While neither mark is very impressive, it should be noted that the Terrapins' one Big Ten win is quite notable.
On Dec. 28, Maryland went on the road to Madison and beat No. 6 Wisconsin, 70-64. The upset shows that even with Maryland’s iffy resume, they are no pushover.
The Terrapins have plenty of talent on their roster and guys who have had success at the college level, it’s just a matter of them putting it all together. Similar to Penn State, Maryland is missing stars from a year ago in Anthony Cowan and Jalen Smith.
This year, players such as Eric Ayala, Donta Scott and Aaron Wiggins are adjusting to their new roles of being the go-to players on the team.
The trio make up the Terrapins’ double-digit scorers with Ayala scoring 14.7, Scott at 12.9, and Wiggins with 11 points per game, respectively. Ayala is the leading scorer, but Scott is perhaps the most versatile.
The sophomore forward does a little bit of everything, grabbing a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game, ranking fourth on the team in steals and assists, and shooting 51.9% from distance.
Maryland scores about the same rate as Indiana — Maryland scores 74.6 points per game, and Indiana averages 72.7.
For a number of statistical categories, the two teams are pretty identical, too.
3-point %: IU – 34.5%, Maryland – 35.1%
FG%: IU – 46.7%, Maryland – 48.3%
Rebounds per game: IU – 34.3, Maryland – 36.0
FT%: IU – 67.6%, Maryland – 69.6%
With Indiana and Maryland having rather similar statistical identities, it could come down to a battle of effort and who wants it more. These two teams are desperate for a win.
In recent years, Indiana has particularly struggled with Maryland. Maryland has won the past three meetings and the Hoosiers have not won since the 2017-2018 season.
Fixing Indiana’s mistakes
In order for Indiana to get a win over Maryland and even its Big Ten record, the Hoosiers are going to need to clean up some of their mistakes from the Penn State win.
A win is a win, but it didn’t look pretty. The Hoosiers had a number of times where they looked good, but they could never keep momentum. Way too often would Indiana lose the lead and squander control of the game.
As a result, Indiana ended up in overtime after losing a 12-point lead with 10 minutes to go.
Another consistent issue was allowing Penn State to get open looks from deep. The Nittany Lions were 12-for-28 from the 3-point line for the game. In the second half they were 7-for-12, fueling their comeback and near victory.
With Maryland being a strong shooting team, too, at 35% from deep, this will be a particular emphasis.
Lastly, Indiana needs to continue the balanced offensive approach that the team had against Penn State. As expected, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Armaan Franklin had good days, scoring 21 and 16 points, each.
The revivals of Rob Phinisee and Al Durham, along with contributions from Trey Galloway, were gigantic, though. All three of those players reached double-digits in scoring against Penn State.
This will need to become the norm for Indiana to be successful against Maryland and other opponents throughout the season. The diversified offense allows pressure to be taken off of Jackson-Davis and Franklin while giving Indiana more options on offense as well as unpredictability to defenses.
(12/29/20 7:42am)
Indiana basketball has not begun conference play pleasantly, digging itself a hole already.
Following a solid, 5-2 nonconference effort, Indiana has suffered an 0-2 start in the Big Ten for the first time in the Archie Miller era.
The losses both come to good teams in a home game against No. 19 Northwestern last Wednesday, 74-67, and at No. 15 Illinois last Saturday, 69-60. While all four of Indiana’s losses come to ranked opponents — No. 18 Florida State and No. 8 Texas, included with the others — their overall record is still 5-4.
No matter who you play, a 5-4 record is nothing to write home about and is already putting the Hoosiers' NCAA Tournament hopes in jeopardy should they keep playing like they are.
Brutal, brutal schedule
It might sound extreme to say this early, but there is reason to be justifiably concerned with Indiana’s chances after only nine games.
For starters, it’s a shortened season and there are no more cupcakes left on the schedule. Indiana is exactly one-third through its regular season slate and has 18 straight Big Ten games left.
The Big Ten has been an absolute bloodbath as expected, too. Obviously, rankings change every week, but if this week’s AP poll theoretically stayed the same for the rest of the season, Indiana would have 13 ranked opponents in its remaining 18 games.
Additionally, while outside of the Texas game Indiana has been close and competitive in all of its losses, there are concerning trends that relate to why these losses are occurring.
Indiana has not proven to be able to execute down the stretch in close games against ranked teams. Against Florida State, Northwestern and Illinois, Indiana had chances to seal the deal late but just couldn’t do it.
There are a lot of underlying factors to why they blew each of those games, but the bottom line is that they lost all three of their close opportunities against ranked teams thus far. Even if they only won one of those games, the perception and outlook of their season to this point is far different.
Now, with the remaining 18 Big Ten games left, importance of each game is amplified with no cushion support from the early part of the season’s record. The one positive for Indiana is that the team will have plenty of opportunities to bolster its resume for a potential NCAA Tournament berth.
Penn State is no pushover
With the dire nature of Indiana’s season noted, the team needs to get back on the right foot, immediately. The Hoosiers can absolutely not afford to go 0-3 in the Big Ten.
They will have one of the easier games in their conference slate next with Penn State visiting Bloomington on Wednesday.
The idea that Penn State is an “easier” should be taken very lightly, though. That is only said because Penn State is not one of the nine ranked Big Ten teams and is off to a much slower start than the majority of the league.
At this point, Penn State is 3-3, but the team’s record is quite deceiving. The Nittany Lions do have a good win at formerly No. 15 Virginia Tech, winning by 20, 75-55. Their losses are where things are quite interesting.
They’ve lost to Seton Hall, at Michigan, and Illinois. The games they lost, though, have been by an average of 4.3 points against all very respectable teams with two of them being ranked. That profile is quite similar to Indiana, further showing that this could be a very competitive game between the Hoosiers and Nittany Lions.
Moreover, the Big Ten has proven this year that no matter where a team is ranked or viewed historically, none of that matters this season. Northwestern is off to an undefeated start and Monday night featured two big-time upsets.
Maryland, who was 0-2 in conference prior, beat No. 6 Wisconsin on the road. Then, No. 21 Minnesota, who had seemingly come out of nowhere this season, dominated No. 17 Michigan State, winning 81-56.
New roles for Penn State
Considering the Big Ten’s wildness this year, anything is possible in the Penn State matchup for Indiana, and there will likely be plenty of uncertainty. What is known is that Penn State is without former star Lamar Stevens for the first time in four years.
Stevens was the identity of a rising Penn State program before his and his team’s special season season was cut short last year. Shortly before the season started, longtime Pat Chambers was fired due to some internal issues within the program, too.
The Nittany Lions are now led by interim head coach Jim Ferry and a contingent of players who have been required to step up into new roles this year. Juniors Izaiah Brockington, Myreon Jones, Sam Sessoms, and sophomore Seth Lundy lead the way for Penn State.
All four players are double-digit scorers, but Brockington has really come into his own this year and reached another level. He was an 8.1-points-per-game scorer last year in a sixth-man role, but this season he is leading the team with 15.2 points per game.
He has a 51.4% clip from the field and is a 46.7% 3-point shooter, too. In addition, he grabs 5.2 rebounds per game as a guard.
(12/27/20 1:01am)
Indiana’s effort was improved, and the team made adjustments from the Northwestern loss, but No. 18 Illinois’ explosive offense was too much to handle for the Hoosiers down the stretch.
Indiana fell to Illinois on the road, 69-60, Saturday afternoon. The loss is significant, dropping Indiana to 5-4 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten.
Indiana looked much improved from the previous loss to Northwestern, but late-game execution and offensive production in tight games continues to haunt this team.
“We had a couple of really tough plays late,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said. “It’s a game of makes and misses. They made theirs, we didn’t.”
Switching up the starting lineup with Trey Galloway over Rob Phinisee and stretching the bench with freshmen Anthony Leal and Jordan Geronimo more playing time helped the team’s energy and fatigue level, but the Hoosiers struggled to score when it counted.
At the 9:47 mark of the second half, Indiana was in a great spot with Geronimo hitting a big 3-pointer to give the Hoosiers a 49-44 lead.
That lead did not last in the final stretch of the game, though, as Illinois went on a 25-11 scoring run to end it and beat the Hoosiers.
Immediately after that Geronimo 3-pointer, Illinois followed up with a 14-0 run to instantly erase Indiana’s brief grip on the game and forced the Hoosiers into panicking from behind.
The Hoosiers responded from the 14-0 run, keeping it between a four-to-eight-point game in the last few minutes until Illinois closed it out at the free-throw line in the final 1:32.
A combination of missed opportunities, rushed plays and poor shot selection eliminated Indiana’s chance to win it.
“If we make a few of those easy shots that we got it’s a different ball game,” Al Durham said.
In addition to the missed easy looks, Indiana’s loss can be attributed to usual lack of scoring diversification and Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu catching fire in the second half.
The lack of offensive options explains Indiana’s troubles with making a run at the Illini in the final 10 minutes. Rapidly improving guard Armaan Franklin led the way again, with a career-high 23 points and was the go-to option down the stretch, scoring six of Indiana’s final eight points.
Franklin did receive a bit more help with usual with Durham stepping up from his slump, adding nine points, and a few other Hoosiers adding some timely baskets. At the same time, there was only one other Indiana player in double-digits — Trayce Jackson-Davis — who finished with a season-low 11 points on 3-for-13 shooting.
When Franklin and Jackson-Davis are not at their absolute best, the rest of the roster struggles to pick up the slack. Outside of those two and Durham, the five other Hoosiers who found the bottom of the net combined to score just 17 points.
Indiana’s defense was great, though, holding Illinois well below its season average of 89.3 points per game. Franklin believes that capitalizing off the defense and getting into transition can help boost the scoring.
“I think our defense needs to translate to our offense more,” Franklin said. “I think when we do that, I think that’s when our scoring droughts will end.”
While Indiana’s defense as a unit was certainly strong, Dosunmu’s star power was stronger and Indiana’s inability to limit him ultimately killed the Hoosiers. The junior guard had 20 of his 30 points in the second half and was 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
Eighteen of his points were in that final, defining 9:47 stretch in the second half. Dosnumu’s explosiveness, paired with everyone besides Franklin struggling for Indiana, was just too much.
“He (Dosunmu) made every big shot to give separation,” Miller said. “When it was a one-possession game he was constantly breaking it open.”
(12/24/20 5:30am)
Slow starts. Scoring droughts. Lack of veteran presence.
All the usual plagues for Indiana’s troubles this season were alive and healthy in the Hoosiers’ 74-67 home loss to Northwestern on Wednesday night. The conference-opening loss immediately puts Indiana in the hole, starting 0-1 in the Big Ten, and 5-3 overall.
“Today I thought we stunk on both ends of the floor,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said.
Like the Butler game, it was a tale of two halves for Indiana. The first half included a sluggish start and Indiana struggling to score against the zone, which resulted in a nine-point deficit at halftime. The second half was a lot crisper for Indiana, playing with much better energy and having a brief lead around the nine-minute mark before Northwestern took control for the rest of the way.
Overall, it was a lack of complete performance that tanked Indiana’s chances to beat Northwestern. Trayce Jackson-Davis was great as always, leading with 22 points and nine rebounds, and Armaan Franklin and Race Thompson chipped in 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Freshman Trey Galloway did have two timely 3-pointers that were big for Indiana’s momentum, but other than the usual contributors, Indiana didn’t get much production from anyone else.
Without better, balanced offensive contributions from the whole team, Indiana sunk into those three consistent struggles: slow starts, scoring droughts and no veteran presence.
Slow starts
It’s become normal for Indiana to start out slow and come alive in the second half to skate by for the game. This was evident against North Alabama and Butler and it looked like the same thing could have happened against Northwestern.
“I thought we were ready to play in warm-ups," Jackson-Davis said. "We were amped up. On the defensive end we let them get some easy buckets. I thought overall in the second half we regrouped and played hard but obviously that run by them at the end got us.”
Indiana flirted with taking control of the game at the nine-minute mark of the second half when they were outscoring Northwestern 23-13 in the second period, but the Wildcats took an eight-point lead with 5:32 in the second half and never looked back.
Indiana did make a good effort to climb back in the game and keep it close, but Northwestern’s Chase Audige could not miss down the stretch, accounting for the team’s final nine points in the game.
Northwestern going on that tear of a run ended Indiana’s chances of making it a third straight game of a second half turnaround to win.
It should serve as a wake-up call that Indiana can’t expect to win Big Ten games when starting so poorly.
Scoring droughts
Much like the slow starts, the scoring droughts from Indiana have become all too common over the course of this season and in years past.
The slow starts and scoring droughts are usually intertwined and that was the case in the first half.
“Didn’t handle the zone at all in the first half,” Miller said of Indiana’s inability to score early.
Northwestern’s zone gave so much issue to Indiana’s offense that they endured two sustained scoring droughts in the first period.
The 13:10 to 10:58 mark and the 10:58 to 7:00 stretch saw Indiana score a combined zero points. There was only one basket in between these two scoreless stretches, a 3-pointer from freshman Khristian Lander.
It was roughly six minutes of no scoring for Indiana. In that time, Northwestern built its lead to as large as 14.
Indiana fell victim of a second half drought, too. This one was crucial, as it was the stretch that gave Northwestern command of the game.
Following a pair of Thompson free throws at 8:56, Northwestern went on a 12-0 run until the 4:49 mark.
In both situations, Indiana’s offense fell asleep for an extended period of time and Northwestern took hold of the game and forced Indiana to play from behind, panic and ultimately lose.
Lack of veteran presence
In conjunction with the scoring droughts and the slow starts, a lot of that falls on the team’s two most experienced players in Al Durham and Rob Phinisee.
The upperclassmen guards have been some of Indiana’s most reliable pieces over the past few seasons. On Wednesday night, and for much of the early portion of the season, that was not the case.
Durham and Phinisee combined for six points on 1-for-9 shooting from the field.
“We’re going to need them to be better,” Miller said of Durham and Phinisee. “We have to get them straightened out a little bit.”
The two guards were expected to be the top leading scorers behind Jackson-Davis this season and both have proven to be capable of being that type of player, but it isn’t showing every game.
That is a very legitimate problem for Indiana moving forward. It has become too common for Jackson-Davis and Franklin to lead, Thompson to support, and then looking to see if anyone else can step up and provide in the scoring effort.
If Indiana is truly going to make the tournament and be a higher-level team, the Hoosiers are going to need more from Durham and Phinisee.
(12/22/20 4:38pm)
Indiana’s nonconference schedule was difficult. Most college basketball teams did not spend their shortened nonconference slate with five neutral site or away games against high-major opponents.
Indiana did just that and is now set for an even tougher task: 20 Big Ten games for the rest of the regular season.
Indiana will start that gauntlet of a stretch with Northwestern at home this Wednesday.
The narrative is always that the Big Ten is “so good” or “so challenging this year” but this season may seem like it has an extra edge of competitiveness.
As of Dec. 20, half of the conference’s teams are ranked in the top 25, with two teams in the top five. Even for those that aren’t ranked, the depth is very strong. Battling that challenge from December to March is a tall task for the Hoosiers and it starts this week.
A new Northwestern
Northwestern is a perfect example of the depth this season and should make for a very challenging first Big Ten game.
Many overlooked the Wildcats going into this season as they finished dead last in the conference a season ago. They stomped out any doubts about them this year through five games, though.
Northwestern is 4-1 and got a very impressive win last Sunday. The Wildcats not only beat, but dominated, No. 4 Michigan State, 79-65, in Evanston.
The signature win has opened some people’s eyes and Indiana will look to end Northwestern’s momentum.
Last season, Indiana and Northwestern only played one time and Northwestern really challenged the Hoosiers in Assembly Hall. Northwestern led for the majority of the game before Indiana went on a late run down the stretch to win, 66-62.
This year’s Northwestern group does not have any seniors, but there is no shortage of experience from a slew of juniors and sophomores.
The Wildcats’ usual starting lineup consists of:
Boo Buie, guard, sophomore, 6-foot-2
Chase Audige, guard, redshirt sophomore, 6-foot-4
Miller Kopp, forward, junior, 6-foot-7
Robbie Beran, forward, sophomore, 6-foot-9
Pete Nance, forward, junior, 6-foot-10
Shooting galore
Buie went off for 30 points to lead Northwestern over Michigan State and is the team’s scoring leader with 15.2 points per game. Audige, Kopp and Nance are all double-digit scorers, too.
Shooting the ball and filling up the basket are Northwestern’s main strengths as a team, putting up a collective 90.2 points per contest.
Granted, that stat might be a little inflated because they’ve played a few low-major teams who have really struggled. Northwestern scored 92 and 111 points, respectively, against Arkansas Pine-Bluff and Chicago State. They also scored 100 against Division II Quincy.
When playing high-major opponents the Wildcats scored 70 at Pittsburgh and then 79 points at home vs Michigan State.
Regardless of if the numbers are a bit inflated, the Wildcats can certainly shoot the ball from 3-point range very well. As a team, Northwestern has a 3-point field goal percentage of 43.5%. They have seven players who shoot from deep at a ridiculous 47% mark and four that are above 50%, too.
These numbers will very likely decrease as they play more Big Ten competition but in their games against Pittsburgh and Michigan State they were 34% and 47%, respectively, from beyond the arc as a team.
Indiana has held opponents to 27.5% from 3-point range, so keeping Northwestern around this mark will be a key priority for the Hoosiers.
Not only will Indiana’s guards be on high alert for guarding the perimeter, but Northwestern's offense will challenge Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson, too.
Not often have Indiana’s post players had to extend to the perimeter on defense, but Northwestern’s starting power forward and center in Nance and Beran both shoot above 40% from the 3-point line.
The two will be are a lot to handle down low, too. Nance is particularly tough, nearly averaging a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds per game.
Likely a competitive game
Should Indiana’s defense keep Northwestern in check with a limited shooting day, Indiana will be in good shape. Against high-major opponents, the Wildcats defense allows 68 points per game, right in the ballpark of a normal day for Indiana offensively.
Indiana and Northwestern has been a competitive series over the past few years, with the past three matchups being decided by an average of just four points per meeting.
With the two teams each entering with momentum, it should be another fun and competitive game.
(12/19/20 8:02pm)
Archie Miller and Indiana comfortably earned another win in their second home at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon against Butler in the Crossroads Classic.
The Hoosiers rode the momentum of Armaan Franklin’s consistency and woke up after a dismal first half to upend the Bulldogs, 68-60, and close out nonconference play with a 5-2 record.
Miller is now 4-0 in the Crossroads Classic and 5-0 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in his tenure at Indiana. The Hoosiers are also 7-3 in the event’s history, the best record of the four competing teams.
Indiana showcased a lot of maturity and growth going from the first half to the second as it flipped the script and took total control of the game. Second-half adjustments in post play on offense and locking down defensively, in addition to Franklin’s career-high 20 points, created dominance on both ends of the floor.
“To start the game, we weren’t ready for the physicality,” Miller said. “They were a much tougher team than us in the first half. I thought in the second half we came out with a much better approach. Our attitude was much different.”
Indiana’s biggest strengths, the packline defense and post offense from Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson, weren’t there in the first half.
A shorthanded Butler team without leading scorer Aaron Thompson found a multitude of ways to expose Indiana’s defense early on. The Bulldogs shot 53.8% from the field and were 5-for-7 from 3-point range. They also outrebounded Indiana 17-11 and got nine points off turnovers. Butler’s quick start built a 37-32 halftime lead, but the momentum made it seem much larger.
Tighter defense changed the game in the second half, though. Indiana only allowed Butler to score six points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, as well as only 23 points for the entirety of the last period.
“We were able to do a much better job of being tougher inside,” Miller said. “They didn’t shoot any uncontested layups in the second half.”
Jackson-Davis ensured Butler had no easy looks with his presence at the rim and his career-high five blocks. The improved second-half defense was a result of Jackson-Davis and Thompson’s effort, which energized the duo on the offensive end of the floor, as well.
Jackson-Davis was steady all game and finished with 21 points and eight rebounds, but Thompson coming alive in the second half made a big difference to the team’s success.
In the first half, Thompson struggled with zero points on 0-for-3 shooting with two turnovers, too. In the second, Thompson scored 10 points and gave Indiana another scoring threat and diversified the offense.
“It really opens up the game,” Jackson-Davis said of Thompson’s success. “Even with Race just shooting those shots so they can’t sag off of him really helps.”
Combining the two post players’ solid performances with the continued growth and consistency of Franklin is what gave Indiana the extra edge to finish soundly.
Franklin, an Indianapolis native, has always found success playing in Bankers Life Fieldhouse throughout his Indiana career and that was no different today.
Last year, he hit the game-winning shot against Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic and had 17 points against Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, as well.
On Saturday, he had a career-high 20 points and was excellent from 3-point range yet again, making five of his seven 3-pointers for the second consecutive game. Thirteen of the 20 points came in the first half and kept IU in the game early on.
“Our guards did a good job, those guys did some really good things to help Armaan get going,” Miller said. “But make no mistake, those were big shots that Armaan made and his confidence level is at a really good place.”
(12/18/20 7:01pm)
Indiana men’s basketball enters its final nonconference game of the regular season on Saturday in familiar territory.
The Hoosiers will play Butler as part of the annual Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. This is the 10th year of the event with Indiana being 6-3 all-time in the neutral-site showcase. Indiana head coach Archie Miller has an undefeated 3-0 record in the Crossroads Classic, too.
Miller’s three wins in the event have all come down to a game-winning basket or go-ahead score in the final seconds. In the last matchup with Butler in 2018, then-freshman Rob Phinisee hit a miraculous 3-pointer at the buzzer to win the game.
[embed]https://twitter.com/IndianaMBB/status/1339694753726701568?s=20[/embed]
Indiana-Butler tends to be a great battle every time they play in the event. The two programs have gone 2-2 against each other in the event’s history.
Let’s take a deeper look at what makes this year’s game different than the rest and what implications are at stake.
A new-look and depleted Butler
There might not be a team in college basketball that has had a more difficult start to its season than Butler.
Butler started the year on the first day of the season with a 66-62 home win over Western Michigan where the Bulldogs were nearly upset. The day after, disaster struck as Butler’s roster was hit by a COVID-19 outbreak that forced the team to postpone or cancel its next three games.
Butler didn’t return to play until last Wednesday where it lost at No. 7 Villanova, 85-66.
In addition to dealing with COVID, Butler is learning to gel with a very different-looking roster compared to a year ago.
Last season, Butler had a 22-9 record and was expected to be a high seed in the NCAA Tournament before the season was canceled. More than just a memorable season lost, Butler also lost six players from a year ago.
Four of the players gone were seniors last season, Kamar Baldwin and Sean McDermott were two of them and Butler’s primary scoring options. Along with the seniors, Jordan Tucker was expected to return and be a top scorer for the Bulldogs, but he surprisingly left early for the NBA Draft. Additionally, promising freshman Khalif Battle transferred to Temple.
With a number of key contributors gone, Butler added five freshmen and two transfers to the team in the offseason.
Even after extended rest throughout this season, Butler is struggling to stay healthy. Against Villanova, Butler was without starting center Bryce Golden and presumable starter and senior Christian David due to injury. Prized freshman and 2020 Michigan Mr. Basketball Scooby Johnson had a season-ending injury in the offseason, too.
To make matters worse, near the end of the Villanova game senior point guard and team leader Aaron Thompson bumped knees with a teammate and had to be helped off the floor. His status against at Indiana is still to be determined.
What Indiana has to do
Assuming Butler is still dealing with the same injury concerns as it had Wednesday, it is going to be an extremely shorthanded and inexperienced group.
The Bulldogs will likely have an eight-man rotation, and four of them being freshmen. Particular emphasis has to be placed on Butler’s available veterans, Jair Bolden and Bryce Nze.
Bolden, a graduate transfer from South Carolina, is a serious sharp-shooter, averaging 16.5 points per game while shooting 42.9% from the 3-point line, too. With Thompson likely out, Bolden will be their No. 1 scoring threat.
As a team, Butler shoots the 3-point shot well, making 34.3% of its looks. Indiana will need to pressure the inexperience and youth of Butler and make it difficult defensively from the arc. Indiana has allowed their opponents this year to shoot well from deep, with its opposition holding a 36.9% 3-point field goal percentage on the year.
At the same time, Indiana will have an opportunity to cash in on trying to continue its 3-point shooting success that it showed against North Alabama. The sample size is small for Butler’s opponents, but in two games Butler is allowing opponents to shoot 46.3% from 3.
If Indiana wants to prove it can be a capable shooting team against good high-major opponents, this is a game to do it.
With the guards’ emphasis on defending the perimeter, Indiana will pay close attention to Nze in the post. Nze is a redshirt senior who is really efficient around the rim and rebounds well.
He is a bit of an undersized big at 6-foot-7, but he averages nine points per game and five and a half rebounds per contest, too. A year ago, he led the Big East Conference in field goal percentage at 62.9%.
Supporting Nze down low will be 6-foot-7 freshman JaKobe Coles who made his first career start against Villanova. Butler also has more height in support of the undersized Nze and Coles with 6-foot-10 sophomore John-Michael Mulloy and 6-foot-9 freshman Myles Wilmoth.
What could be a bit of a jolt to Butler’s lineup is the potential addition of Bo Hodges. Hodges is a 6-foot-5 redshirt junior guard who transferred from East Tennessee State but was not ruled eligible to play this year.
Wednesday’s decision by the NCAA Division I Council to allow a blanket waiver for immediate eligibility for all transfers changed this, though. Hodges did not play against Villanova, but could against Indiana.
Hodges was an All-Southern Conference player last year and scored 12.7 points per game.
Regardless of Butler’s lack of depth and injury situation, Indiana should expect plenty of physicality and hard-nosed play from the Bulldogs. The Big East offers a similar style of toughness on the court as the Big Ten and Butler has been known to give Indiana tough time when they play.
Implications
If Indiana were to win, the Hoosiers would be setting themselves up well going into Big Ten play, with a potential 5-2 record.
Their resume to that point would theoretically include three wins over high-major teams on neutral courts. A year ago, in a full season, Indiana only had five wins away from Assembly Hall all season.
A win over Butler would bode well for their momentum going into Big Ten play and allow a bit of leeway in the conference schedule.
On the other hand, should Indiana lose, IU would be looking at a 4-3 mark with less flexibility within conference play.
With the Big Ten being as challenging as it is and no more low-major opponents on the schedule, this game’s importance increases immensely.
(12/13/20 8:27pm)
It might not have been a Big Ten team or a high-major opponent, but Indiana showed real potential of an explosive offense against North Alabama.
The Hoosiers used the momentum from their 3-point shooting to beat North Alabama 87-52 at home Sunday afternoon.
It was Indiana’s best shooting display from 3-point range of the season, by far, finishing with 13 3-pointers on 39.4% shooting, a season-high in both total 3-point baskets and field-goal percentage. The second-best 3-point shooting effort this year was a 35% outing against Providence, when Indiana only made five 3-pointers.
“We’ve been working a lot on making each other more confident, making our passes on time, on target, and just having the confidence,” Indiana freshman Anthony Leal said of the team’s better shooting performance. “We know we’re all capable of it.”
Three-point shooting has been a consistent struggle for Indiana in the Archie Miller era, but with more performances like Sunday's game it can raise the team’s offensive capabilities to a different level.
Unlike prior games this season, better efficiency from beyond the arc allowed Indiana’s offense to be more varied and unpredictable against North Alabama. There wasn’t an extreme reliance to only look for Trayce Jackson-Davis in the post for scoring.
Jackson-Davis still had a good game, going for 15 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field, but his teammates stepped up, taking pressure off of the sophomore to be at his best in order to win.
Another sophomore, Armaan Franklin, had arguably his best game of the season, chipping in a career-high 19 points to lead the team while going off from 3-point range, making five of his seven shots from deep.
“He continues to evolve a lot as a player,” Miller said. “I was really happy for him to see the ball go through the net… I think that’s going to be the Armaan that we get used to seeing.”
In addition to Franklin, freshmen Trey Galloway and Khristian Lander each finished with double-digits in scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively. As a team, seven players hit a 3-point shot, with three of them hitting multiple, including Franklin, Lander and Rob Phinisee.
The far-improved consistency from downtown and the better balance of Indiana’s scoring efforts ultimately led to a far better rhythm on offense.
Going into the North Alabama game, Indiana’s offensive attack had been centered around the post due to Jackson-Davis’ dominance with 22.2 points per game and the Hoosiers’ inability to convert from three, shooting only 28.7% on the season.
On Sunday, the team scored more from 3-point range than any other spot on the court, which led to the team’s second highest scoring output of the season. The additional layer of 3-point shooting combined with Indiana’s already stellar defense makes them a lethal team.
“If we start to develop more of a rhythm, catch-and-shoot mentality, where our guys are confident and the ball is going in, we’re a tough cover,” Miller said. “Our defense is getting stops, we've just got to be a team in transition that’s really sharp.”
While Indiana’s shooting was great Sunday, the real question is if it can continue as conference play rolls around. Indiana does not have any more low-major opponents left on the schedule.
The Hoosiers will play Butler in the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis next week and then it’s solely Big Ten competition for the rest of the season. As a team last year, Indiana shot 32.6% from deep, but in conference play that percentage dropped to a measly 24.4%.
Should Indiana improve on its 3-point shooting moving forward with real consistency, it could be a barometer to how successful the team can be in conference play and for the rest of the year.
(12/10/20 4:44am)
After Indiana dominated Florida State a year ago in Bloomington, the Seminoles got revenge over the Hoosiers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday in Tallahassee during the final seconds.
Florida State freshman Scottie Barnes banked in a tightly contested, close-range floater with 1.8 seconds left to put the Seminoles ahead and ultimately beat the Hoosiers 69-67 in overtime.
Despite playing tough with a nationally ranked opponent on the road, the game will ultimately be big a missed opportunity for Indiana’s resume come March and drops Indiana to 3-2 on the season.
Indiana head coach Archie Miller was vocal about how much the loss hurt for his team.
“That locker room was vastly different than a lot of locker rooms I’ve been in here,” Miller said. “That was a very, very upset team.”
The contest was truly a back-and-forth ordeal the entire way. Through the entire second half and overtime period, neither team had a lead larger than four points.
Although Indiana came close, and coming close isn’t enough to win, there were plenty of positives to take away.
Overcoming adversity
Before the game, there was plenty of question of how shorthanded Indiana without 6-foot-11 center Joey Brunk would handle the overwhelming size of Florida State.
Indiana only had two players available who were 6-foot-8 or taller in Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson. The Seminoles on the other hand had eight players at that height or bigger.
A differential in height and athleticism punished Indiana and its offense last week in Maui as the team had one of its worst offensive performances in the past decade, losing to a similarly structured roster in No. 14 Texas, 66-44.
This time around, Indiana handled the size difference well and was able to score the ball much better than it did against Texas.
“I thought we played with confidence on offense,” Miller said. “Our offense for the most part was able to function and get some quality shots.”
They did not shoot the ball phenomenally well, only 36.8% from the field and a measly 26.7% from 3-point range, but those figures were enough to be in the game with how Indiana handled Florida State defensively.
For having such a huge size advantage, the Seminoles only scored 32 of their points in the paint and overall shot 32.6% from the field. Additionally, the two teams tied in rebounding, each finishing with 44 boards for the game.
Beyond any statistic, Indiana had a strong response to Florida State’s fast start. The Seminoles opened the game on an 8-2 run and forced the Hoosiers to call timeout just a minute and 27 seconds in.
Unlike the Texas game, where as soon as the Longhorns got going Indiana was done for, the Hoosiers responded nicely, going an 8-0 run of their own to follow and fought all night.
Trayce Jackson-Davis’ Stardom
It’s become a typical night when Jackson-Davis absolutely dominates for Indiana and that was no different tonight.
The sophomore forward finished with 25 points on 8-for-15 shooting with 17 rebounds.
“He’s showing right now that he’s one of the best players in college basketball,” Miller said of his star player.
What made the effort more impressive was how Florida State consistently put double teams and a hoard of big bodies around Jackson-Davis to clog the paint, but he still finished well.
Florida State’s sophomore center Balsa Koprivica had primary responsibility of guarding Jackson-Davis in his 21 minutes. The 7-foot-1 center could not handle him defensively, though, as he was consistently in foul trouble and ended up fouling out.
Moving forward
While the positives were there and were far better than the aftermath in the first loss against Texas, Indiana still has much to improve with one particular area of focus.
Even with tying Florida State on the boards, the Hoosiers allowed Florida State to have 19 offensive rebounds and numerous second-chance opportunities.
“I don’t feel good about rebounding,” Miller said. “For me and my staff it’s our No. 1 concern.”
In addition to the rebounding, Indiana will have to learn how to close and execute in tight games down the stretch.
This was their first game of the year that came down to the wire, but winning these games distinguishes the good teams from the great. With the high expectations that this team has, winning tight games will be necessary to reach their goals.
Close games against difficult opponents will likely be a common theme with the strength of the Big Ten once again this year.
Jackson-Davis shared that sentiment, and echoed the team’s goals and frustration after the close loss.
“When I got in the locker room, I was angry, I was really mad,” Jackson-Davis said. “I don’t think of us as any other IU team that we’ve had in the last 10 years. I’m trying to be different this year, and to be different you’ve got to win these games.”
(12/09/20 12:44am)
After a week of tests in the 2020 Maui Invitational, Indiana finds itself against another challenging opponent this Wednesday.
The Hoosiers will play the No. 20 Florida State Seminoles on the road in Tallahassee as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The two teams played against each other last year for the challenge, too, with Indiana beating the Seminoles in Bloomington in dominant fashion, 80-64.
Thus far, the Seminoles have only played one game, against North Florida, who they beat 86-58.
This year, other than the location, there are a number of differences in the matchup. Let’s take a look at the key differences and things to watch going into the game.
(12/02/20 10:27pm)
In need of a serious reset a day after one of Indiana’s ugliest offensive performances of the past decade, the Hoosiers came ready to play.
Indiana handled Stanford, winning 79-63 in its final game of the 2020 Maui Invitational to improve to 3-1. The win gave Indiana third place in the event and erased any memory after Tuesday's thrashing of a loss to No. 17 Texas, 66-44.
Indiana head coach Archie Miller seemed unfazed about the ugly loss to the Longhorns and knew his team would bounce back.
“We have a no-maintenance group," Miller said. "The sky is falling everywhere else, but our team was fine."
The team certainly was just fine, and a big reason why was Indiana’s duo of sophomores. Trayce Jackson-Davis was in the spotlight for his dominant, career-high 31-point effort, but Armaan Franklin supplemented Jackson-Davis’ effort and solidified the win.
Through the first three games of the year, Franklin had been playing decently. Nothing too special, but solid. He had scored between six and eight points in every outing prior to Wednesday and always brought good defensive effort.
On Wednesday, though, Franklin stepped up when Indiana needed him most. Senior guard Al Durham was out for the game after an ankle injury suffered against Texas and junior point guard Rob Phinisee battled foul trouble and turnovers all day Wednesday.
With those two — the usual go-to scoring guards — having their impacts completely minimized, Franklin played his best game of the season with a season-high 13 points along with eight rebounds and five assists.
None of Franklin's points were from the 3-point line, but he did display strong play in the midrange game. Three of Franklin’s baskets were midrange jump shots which is something Indiana does not do much of outside of him. He also was 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.
In addition to Franklin needing to provide more scoring-wise in Durham’s absence and Phinisee not being his usual self, Franklin ended up playing the entire 40-minute game with no time on the bench, making his efforts even more impressive.
“Armaan's a physically-conditioned athlete,” Miller said. “He can run all day. He's in incredible shape.”
The sophomore was excellent on the defensive side of the ball, as well, with plenty of toughness and scrappy play.
Most of the game, his main assignment was guarding Stanford’s star freshman and one of its most lethal threats in Ziaire Williams. The 6-foot-8 forward had a three-inch height advantage, but Franklin practically took him out of the game.
Williams shot a dismal 1-for-10 from the field and was 0-for-5 from the 3-point line. The freshman finished with just four points with those coming from one basket and two free throws.
“(Franklin is) becoming one of the best defenders we have,” Miller said. “He's accountable right now. He's playing much tougher.”
Franklin made life difficult for Williams all game, closing out hard when he shot and keeping Williams in front of him to prevent any driving opportunities. The No. 6 ranked prospect in the 2020 recruiting class — and projected lottery pick — did not look much like his usual self.
By taking away any threat that Williams could provide for the Cardinal that in turn caused Stanford to lose some serious contribution and flow to its offense.
Williams was a double-digit scorer in the previous two games. In Stanford's win over Alabama on Monday, Williams was Stanford’s leading scorer with 19. In the loss to North Carolina, he had 10.
With Franklin completely mitigating Williams and providing like he did on offense when needed, it is safe to say that he has proved himself worthy of his new starting role this season.
“I think he showed today, and in this tournament in general, how important he is to our team,” Miller said.
(11/30/20 11:28pm)
Indiana made a statement in the opening round of the 2020 Maui Invitational, but Race Thompson made a bigger one.
The junior forward outmuscled and outplayed the opposition down low in the post to lift Indiana to a dominant 79-58 win over Providence in a neutral site at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina.
Thompson led the team with 22 points, a career high, on an efficient shooting night, going 8-for-12 from the floor. He also provided 13 rebounds, another team high, to reach a double-double for the game.
His performance earned high praise from Indiana head coach Archie Miller.
“Monster effort from Race Thompson,” Miller said. “I am so happy for him. How he plays is how he practices every day.”
Despite Thompson being really good solely based on the numbers, his effort is what made Indiana’s win so dominant.
Without senior center Joey Brunk, Indiana had a severe height disadvantage compared to Providence. Indiana only played two players who were 6-foot-8 or taller in Thompson (6-foot-8), and Trayce Jackson-Davis who is 6-foot-9.
Providence’s starting lineup features Greg Gannt and their star Nate Watson, who are 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-10, respectively. While the size of those two evens out with Thompson and Jackson-Davis, Indiana had no bench relief to match that size throughout the game, or the three 6-foot-8 players Providence brings off the bench.
This lack of depth in the post required Thompson to raise his game to another level in order to handle the sheer size and toughness of the Friars.
“To beat a team like Providence you really had to answer the physicality of the game,” Miller said.
The physicality of Providence lends itself to do much of their scoring in the post. On Monday, the Friars had 45% of their points come from the paint and were only 3-for-17 from 3-point range.
Thompson’s stingy defense, along with help from Jackson-Davis, took away Providence’s most lethal weapon in their post game as they limited anything that Watson and Gantt could do.
Gantt, Thompson’s main assignment, finished with just five points. Watson, who had 23 points last week against Fairfield, only had 12 points on a 4-for-11 shooting day.
Not only did Thompson hold his own defensively, but he was an absolute force on the offensive side of the ball.
“We ended up holding serve on the boards, and a big reason why was the upper level from Race,” Miller said.
Of Thompson’s 13 total rebounds, eight were off the offensive glass. These boards gave way to extra chance opportunities for Indiana to score it and cut Providence’s time of possession. Indiana had 17 second-chance points for the game which made up 22% of the team’s total scoring.
More than just the opportunities created for others by Thompson’s efforts on the glass, the junior had an excellent day scoring the ball, in a variety of ways.
Thompson had plenty of his typical scoring around the rim, but he also proved to be efficient all around the floor. He hit two baseline, midrange jumpers while nailing a floater in the paint Monday. He also took advantage of the charity stripe, making six of his 10 free throws.
Thompson's scoring ability outside the paint gives Indiana another dimension of versatility on offense and shows how far Thompson has come in his improvement as a player.
“He’s a very motivated player,” Miller said of Thompson. “He used his offseason as well as any player I’ve been around.”
The expansion of Thompson’s game’s benefit is two-fold. Not only does it help Indiana score with more ease and stretch the floor more, but it also forces opposing defenses to focus on both him and Jackson-Davis, allowing each player to have more open looks when they’re on the floor together.
This proved to be true against Providence as Jackson-Davis and Thompson had a number of plays where they moved the ball well between each other to have the other get an open look.
Thompson’s growth and physicality surfacing now is an ideal time for Indiana as it not only helped the Hoosiers take care of Providence, but it might be even more crucial for their matchup Tuesday with No. 17 Texas in the second round of the event. Texas is an even bigger team size-wise compared to the Friars.
(11/30/20 4:05pm)
For the first time since 2015, Indiana will be participating in the Maui Invitational.
This time around, the marquee early-season tournament in college basketball will look a little different as it will take place in Asheville, North Carolina at Harrah’s Cherokee Center.
The event was moved to the mainland United States due to COVID-19. This is the first year the event will not be taking place in Maui.
Indiana head coach Archie Miller expressed his excitement to get one of the toughest stretches of his schedule underway.
“We are getting ready to take on a Maui field that is really, really talented," Miller said. "We have our work cut out for us as we get down there. It is obviously the premier event in college basketball at this time of year.”
The eight-team invitational features two, four-team brackets and the winner of each mini bracket will play in the overall championship game. No matter win or lose in whatever round, each team will play three games in three days.
Indiana opens play on Monday against Providence at 2:30 p.m. and will play the winner or loser of Davidson and No. 19 Texas in the game to follow. For Indiana’s third opponent it could be anyone of the following four teams: Stanford, Alabama, UNLV or No. 16 North Carolina.
The one definite opponent for Indiana in the next three days is Providence. Let’s take a specific look at the Friars while also touching on the rest of the field.