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(01/03/20 9:50pm)
The non-conference season is over, the Hoosiers are 11-2, and now the real fun begins.
At noon on Saturday, Indiana will kick off Big Ten play for the rest of the regular season and in doing so, immediately face a huge test on the road in the form of No. 15 Maryland.
This will be the second ranked opponent IU has faced and it could arguably be Indiana’s toughest test of the season thus far. The Hoosiers took down No. 18 Florida State by 16, but that game was of course a home contest.
Beyond FSU, Indiana’s other victories against high-major opponents have all been close and very much incomplete performances. Most of Indiana’s recent games, win or loss, have seen a breakdown and collapse of a lead late. This trend includes IU's last game, a 71-64 home loss to Arkansas, where the Hoosiers led by double digits, yet the Razorbacks ended the game on a 19-3 run in the last 8:08 to play.
If the Hoosiers want a chance to steal a road win, they’re going to have to play a lot better than they have over the last month, period. The only true road game Indiana has played thus far came on December 7 against Wisconsin, a 20-point loss. Still, the Hoosiers have won two neutral site games against Connecticut and Notre Dame.
Indiana is going to have a lot on its plate in order to get that elusive second win over a ranked opponent. Maryland is incredibly talented and has the resume -- and roster -- to prove it.
The Terrapins have challenged themselves early on in their schedule, with notable wins over Temple, Marquette, Notre Dame and Illinois. Marquette is by far the best win, a team currently receiving votes, but a little outside the top 25. The Terps easily took care of Marquette though, with an impressive margin of victory of 21 points. Also, Notre Dame, the common opponent between these two who Indiana beat by two, Maryland defeated by 21.
Maryland’s only losses come on the road, with a seven-point loss on the road at No. 21 Penn State and a four-point loss to Seton Hall.
To go along with a strong resume is an even stronger level of roster depth from the Terrapins. There is legitimate star power with senior guard Anthony Cowan and sophomore forward Jalen Smith. Both were All-Big Ten First Team preseason selections.
The six-foot Cowan is the senior leader of the group; he also leads them in scoring with 16.7 points per game (fourth in the Big Ten), assists (about four per game), and steals with 18. Cowan’s versatility on both ends of the floor, along with being an elite passer and shooter, hitting 37 percent of his jumpers from deep, make him a load to handle, despite the size.
(12/31/19 7:41pm)
Indiana men's basketball, like many of the past few seasons, has been a rollercoaster thus far.
At the end of nonconference play, the Hoosiers have a respectable 11-2 record, but there is still so much that remains in question about this team.
Like last year, Indiana had a good foundation of a resume entering conference play and an identical 11-2 record before the team collapsed in January.
This season, Indiana’s resume to this point has a signature win over then-No. 17 Florida State, seven easier wins over low-major conference opponents to start the year and a few decent wins over Connecticut, Nebraska and Notre Dame.
The two losses to Wisconsin and Arkansas are all right. Wisconsin has been up and down and playing in Madison is always a tough task, but Indiana looked absolutely awful in this game and lost by 20. Arkansas is an 11-1 team, but is also difficult to read. Other than Indiana, the Razorbacks have only played one other major conference opponent so far.
The bottom line is that even though a good chunk of the season is already done, this Indiana team is still very much a mystery and there are plenty of questions to be answered.
Are they really that good? Can they find some consistency in the Big Ten? And, the ultimate question: Will they make the NCAA Tournament?
Big Ten play will shed some light on the Hoosiers’ true identity, but let’s dive into what we do know about Indiana, and particularly its roster at this point in the season with some mid-season evaluations.
Most Valuable Player: Trayce Jackson-Davis
By far the easiest category to decide, freshman power forward Trayce Jackson-Davis has been excellent in his first collegiate season.
Going into the season, Indiana was not expected to have a definitive star or pure best player, but the young power forward has exceeded expectations and has emerged as the Hoosiers’ best and most consistent player.
After a decorated prep career that saw him win the 2019 Indiana Mr. Basketball award and be named a 2019 McDonald’s All-American among other accolades, it has not taken him long to show why he was so highly regarded coming out of high school.
Just by the numbers, Jackson-Davis is the team’s leader in points per game (15.4), rebounds (113), blocks (26) and field goal percentage (66.4 percent). His block total is 20 more than anyone else on the team and his total rebounds exceeds any other Hoosiers’ total by at least 36. Jackson-Davis’ scoring, rebounding and blocks averages each rank in the top 10 of the conference. The freshman’s field goal percentage is best in the Big Ten.
Additionally, he already has five double-doubles on the year, including a monster performance against Nebraska that included 25 points and 15 rebounds.
Beyond the numbers, Jackson-Davis gives Indiana a dynamic presence in the post that Indiana simply did not have a season ago. He finishes so smoothly around the rim, gives the offense second-chance opportunities with plenty of offensive rebounding and adamantly protects the rim on defense.
Once again, he is Indiana’s most consistent and reliable player with a high level of production every game. He doesn’t have the look of a freshman, but rather shows the poise of an upperclassman.
Jackson-Davis’ excellent play has earned him Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times already.
Biggest Surprise: Armaan Franklin
The most pleasant surprise for Indiana this year has been the other scholarship freshman, shooting guard Armaan Franklin.
Franklin entered the season with expectation to play, but not make the level of impact that he has. The backcourt depth is thin, but it is also very talented.
In normal circumstances, Franklin would have probably started the year as the fourth guard in minutes received but injuries to the other three guards gave way for more and more opportunity for Franklin.
In the exhibition game against Gannon, he was forced to play an unnatural position for him in point guard as Devonte Green, Rob Phinisee and Al Durham were all out with injury. Durham quickly returned and has been healthy for the regular season but Green and Phinisee have both battled some injury and missed some games here and there.
The minutes expectations have surfaced as all the guards have been available for some time now, but Franklin has made the most of his opportunities and proven to be an effective player on both ends of the floor.
Franklin is scoring 5.4 points per game, 1.9 rebounds per game and has recorded 27 assists. His numbers are not flashy, and his jumper has struggled some, but Franklin has earned his keep through his hustle and on-ball defense.
Indiana head coach Archie Miller has shown plenty of trust in the freshman and Miller’s confidence in the freshman paid off in the Notre Dame win.
Franklin had a career day with a career high 17 points while shooting 4-5 from the 3-point line, including the game-winning three with 15 seconds to go to lift Indiana over Notre Dame 62-60.
As Franklin continues to develop and improve, there will be more performances like the one against Notre Dame in the near future.
Most Improved: Damezi Anderson
Looking back from a year ago to now, it is evident that sophomore forward Damezi Anderson has taken the biggest steps forward in his progression as a player.
Anderson, like Franklin, does not have flashy or gaudy stats to show for his play, but the improvement is very visible. He is scoring and rebounding at an average of 4.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in about 15 minutes per contest. For all of those categories and just about all other statistical measures, Anderson has improved.
One should not get caught up in the numbers game though when dissecting Anderson’s game, because scoring a ton is not his role. Anderson’s job is to provide depth off the bench, solid defense and timely shooting.
In his play this season, he has shown to be more than capable of doing all of those things. A year ago, Anderson had a handful of “freshman moments” where there some tough stretches for the forward. Those have ultimately turned out to be learning experiences for Anderson as the most obvious improvement is that he just looks far more comfortable on the court.
Anderson still has some slip-ups from time to time, but he has earned his spot in the rotation this year and has done it in large part because of his hustle. It’s not hard to see that Anderson works hard and it shows in his defensive play which has had some really impressive showings this year.
For Anderson to continue his growth, he’ll need more minutes on the floor. More playing time for Anderson is likely stringent on Anderson making more shots from 3-point range.
Currently, Anderson is tied for fourth on the team with eight 3-point shots made with Franklin, but he has received significantly fewer minutes than Franklin as well as Green and Durham who are the team leaders in 3-pointers made.
Most Underappreciated: Joey Brunk
If there is a player on this Indiana basketball team who regularly contributes in a big way but often doesn’t get the praise for it, it’s junior center Joey Brunk.
The 6-foot-11 graduate transfer from Butler has been a starter from day one for the Hoosiers and has transitioned pretty seamlessly to the Indiana program.
Brunk is scoring at a rate of 7.6 points per game, though he has had three games where he has reached double digits and is shooting an effective 53.9 percent from the field. Brunk is also bringing down nearly six rebounds per game and has the second most rebounds of anyone on the team with 77.
Much of what Brunk provides can’t be measured by numbers though. With senior big man De’Ron Davis falling out of the rotation, Brunk’s role as true big man, being a physically imposing force at 6-foot-11, becomes far more important.
Just purely being that big gives IU so much flexibility on the court. He might not be able to run the floor or in transition the way an effective small ball team would, but his presence alone down low under the bucket makes it that much more difficult for opposing teams to score in the paint and gather rebounds.
Comparing Brunk’s impact to a season ago, where Indiana’s starting lineup featured two 6-foot-7 players playing the post goes to show how important Brunk is. Juwan Morgan, one of those post players from Indiana a year ago, was excellent at being an undersized post player on offense, but on defense he was forced to guard players who were much bigger than him and were purely unfair mismatches for him to deal with. Those mismatches often left Indiana beat on defense in the post. That is no knock on Morgan, but just a season later it shows how valuable a traditionally big center can be on the inside like Brunk.
The combination of Brunk and Jackson-Davis is why Indiana’s interior defense has been so much better than the perimeter defense this season. Brunk at 6-foot-11, and Jackson-Davis at 6-foot-9 provide much better size than two 6-foot-7 players down low.
Additionally, Brunk being on the court with Jackson-Davis is part of what allows the freshman star to be so effective. Jackson-Davis has found plenty of success when the team’s lineup is going small too, but when Brunk is on the floor with him, opposing defenses have to account for two big bodies to guard and contain. Rather than if Jackson-Davis was the tallest player on the court, defenses would have an easier time swarming him and taking away the physical advantages he provides.
Like others mentioned in these evaluations, Brunk’s numbers aren’t eye-popping but what Brunk brings to the table as a consistent force and glue guy in the lineup makes him invaluable to this team.
(12/30/19 2:50am)
For much of the second half in Indiana’s home contest with Arkansas, the game looked to follow the same storyline of the Hoosiers’ past few matchups: a tight game that came about after the Hoosiers lost a sizable lead in the second half.
The difference Sunday was that rather than Indiana sealing the deal in close fashion, usual struggles were too much for the Hoosiers to overcome and they lost to Arkansas 71-64. The loss marks their first at home and leaves Indiana with an 11-2 record at the end of the nonconference slate.
“Our offense kind of leaves us, our defense kind of caves in a little bit transition-wise, or off some runs, we give them some 3s, and next thing you're in a hole,” Indiana head coach Archie Miller said. “We were in a similar hole a week ago, came through, tonight we didn't.”
In both of Indiana’s past two games against Nebraska and Notre Dame, Indiana was leading at halftime and built up a seemingly safe lead through the second half, only to see it quickly evaporate and the game go down to the wire.
Against Nebraska, a 6-7 team, Indiana was leading for almost the entirety of the second half and was up eight with 4:19 to go in the game, only to lose control of the game and need overtime to close it out.
Indiana was up by as much as 17 early in the second half in the Crossroads Classic against Notre Dame and also led by double digits until 9:46 left in the game. The Fighting Irish flipped the script and made it a nail-biter with a lead change at five minutes to go. Their comeback was only thwarted due to a few clutch plays and the eventual game-winning 3 from Armaan Franklin with 15 seconds remaining.
The bottom line is that Indiana struggles to close teams out in the second half. The only game against high-major competition in which the Hoosiers have shown to be capable of doing so was in the Florida State win, which has been the anomaly of the season for a number of reasons.
The Hoosiers' inability to close teams out caught up to them against Arkansas, another game where they had a real opportunity to take care of business early on.
At the under-16 media timeout in the second half, Indiana led 52-42 and was leading by nine with a little over eight minutes to go. From there Indiana went cold. Arkansas went on a 19-3 run in the last 8:08 of the game and took the lead with 2:50 to go. From there, there was no looking back from the Razorbacks.
This second-half collapse was due to a number of typical issues the Hoosiers face like poor free-throw shooting and bad perimeter defense while turnovers and poor ball movement added to the struggle.
Indiana shot a measly 9-for-18 from the free-throw line and saw the season average dip to 69.1 percent. A few of those misses were key ones that came down the stretch when Indiana needed them most.
“It's definitely something that you have to pay attention to because I think it's a very important piece to this team, making free throws,” Miller said. “Free throws can extend leads. Free throws can stop runs. Tonight, wasn't our night from the line.”
Perimeter defense, a consistent problem for Indiana, was a problem yet again Sunday. It’s become normal for teams that aren’t great at shooting from 3 to have their best day against Indiana.
Arkansas buried 12 shots from deep and made 38 percent of their total looks while coming into the game with a season average of only 29.7 percent from beyond the arc.
“To us, our defense is the thing that you can control,” Miller said. “You've got to play with great emotion and great toughness. I think in general we had a few guys out there tonight at times that were letting things bother them, and we weren't dialed in.”
Similar to the Arkansas result, Nebraska and Portland State torched Indiana from deep. Nebraska made 37.5 percent of their 3s against IU while having a season average of about 34 percent. Portland State was 8-for-16 against the Hoosiers from deep.
Losing Al Durham to ejection in the first half because of his assessed flagrant-two foul for an elbow could have played a big role in another tough outing when guarding the perimeter. It left Indiana’s guard depth short-handed, with only three scholarship players in the backcourt of Franklin, Devonte Green and Rob Phinisee.
The lack of backcourt depth played a role in Indiana’s 14 turnovers and lack of ball movement too. The second half rarely saw the ball go down low for post looks for Trayce Jackson-Davis and Joey Brunk.
Jackson-Davis was guarded tightly after halftime, but he was extremely dominant in the first and playing through him is what gave Indiana their original advantage. The freshman forward had 16 of his team-high 20 points in the first half.
The Hoosiers will have to forget this loss quickly, because it does not get any easier from here on out. The gauntlet of Big Ten play for the remainder of the season awaits Indiana.
They missed a great opportunity to add a resume-building win in Arkansas, but the Hoosiers will have an even better chance to do that and bounce back on Saturday when Indiana will travel to take on No. 13 Maryland.
(12/28/19 11:39pm)
After what has been a solid 11-1 start to the season, Indiana will close out nonconference play on Sunday night when the Hoosiers host 10-1 Arkansas.
The game will serve as a good opportunity for either team to get a good boost to the resume. Both teams are in the top 40 of the KenPom rankings with Indiana at No. 34 and Arkansas coming in at No. 37.
Like their KenPom ranking, Indiana and Arkansas are similar for the sake that both teams are viewed a bit skeptically because of the lack of schedule strength to go along with their great records.
It should be noted that at the same time, Indiana’s quality of wins is a lot stronger at this point by comparison to Arkansas. The Hoosiers have beaten a nationally ranked team in No. 17 Florida State and three other major conference opponents in Connecticut, Nebraska and Notre Dame. Arkansas has only played one major conference opponent all season thus far and that was a 62-61 overtime win over Georgia Tech who is 6-6 and No. 101 in KenPom.
Familiar foes
The Razorbacks are a very familiar opponent to the Hoosiers. The two teams squared off twice last season, a very rare occurrence for two teams that are not in the same conference.
Both games were very close matchups and the teams split them. In the first game, Arkansas edged a 73-72 victory over Indiana at home in November. The second time around, Indiana hosted Arkansas and beat them 63-60 as part of the second round of the National Invitation Tournament in March.
The two teams are familiar with one another, but the matchup looks a little bit different from a year ago. The Razorbacks have a new head coach in Eric Musselman who left Nevada, where he made the Sweet 16 in 2018, and replaces Mike Anderson.
Replacing stars
Arkansas and Indiana also each lost some star power in Daniel Gafford of Arkansas and Juwan Morgan and Romeo Langford of Indiana all now playing professionally.
In the absence of Gafford, the Arkansas backcourt of junior Mason Jones and sophomore Isaiah Joe have done a good job of replacing the scoring and on-court production.
Jones is the leading scorer and rebounder with an average of 19.6 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. Jones is also excellent from the free throw line, converting 93 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe.
Similar to Jones, Joe is a solid scorer, 16.8 points per game, and good rebounder as well, 4.6 per game. Joe is also a good defender, as he and Jones both have exactly four blocks and 20 steals. Joe is by far Arkansas’ most consistent 3-point shooter, evidently having the green light as he has taken 114 attempts from beyond the arc this season. The next highest 3-point attempt total comes from Jones who has taken 55. Joe has made 34.2 percent of his looks from deep.
Another test for the defense
In addition to trying to slow down Jones and Joe, IU’s defensive collectively will look to bring a lot of on-ball pressure on Arkansas while also clogging the paint and force the Razorbacks to shoot from the 3-point line.
Arkansas commits a decent number of turnovers per contest, 13.7, disrupting passing lanes and forcing the Razorbacks to commit that many turnovers, or more, will be key for Indiana.
Additionally, owning the paint defensively, as IU has shown it is more than capable of doing this season will be another point of emphasis. Arkansas’ offense scores a lot — 75.1 points per game — but most of that work is done from close to the basket. On the other hand, the Razorbacks struggle tremendously from the 3-point line, only making 29.7 percent of attempts.
While making Arkansas shoot from deep would be a defensive win, it will still end up being a test as IU’s perimeter defense has struggled all season, and many teams who aren’t characteristic of being good 3-point shooting teams have excelled against Indiana.
At the end of the day, this will be an important test for Indiana. This will be the last nonconference opportunity to bolster the Hoosiers’ resume before the gauntlet of Big Ten play takes over full time.
A year ago, Indiana entered the first week of January with an impressive 11-2 record, they left Big Ten play with an 8-12 conference record. This year won’t be any easier.
From the ESPN Basketball Power Index, Indiana is projected to have the toughest strength of schedule in the country for the rest of the season.
Indiana’s true identity is slowly coming to fruition, the Arkansas game and conference play to follow will showcase what exactly that identity entails.
(12/21/19 10:12pm)
INDIANAPOLIS — Shooting only 14 percent from the 3-point line on the season before Saturday, Indiana freshman guard Armaan Franklin was not expected to be much of a threat from deep.
He buried that narrative and his 4-for-27 season slump from deep to the ground Saturday with four threes, including the game winning one with 15 seconds to go to give now 11-1 Indiana the 62-60 win over Notre Dame at the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis.
“He (Franklin) can shoot it,” Indiana head coach Archie Miller said. “He just gotten off to a tough start. He hasn't let it impact his attitude, and he hasn't let it impact his coachability.”
Along with the career high four 3-pointers, Franklin set a new career high of 17 points on 5-for-6 shooting to lead the team. It was a breakout game for the freshman guard on the big stage, in his hometown too.
The Indianapolis native made the most of his chances when his name was called. He got subbed in for the first time in the game after the under-eight media timeout in the first half where he had nine points off of two 3-pointers and three made free throws by the under-four media timeout.
After Indiana squandered what was a 17-point lead and total collapsed in the second half, Franklin stepped up for the team when he entered the game with about four minutes to go and the Hoosiers trailing 59-54.
Franklin, who had not been playing much in crunch time all year, proved his worth down the stretch. The freshman hit a three at the top of the key to cut Notre Dame’s lead down to two with 2:49 left, took a crucial charge on defense and then not too long after hit the game winner.
As great as Franklin was, the other two scholarship newcomers to Indiana’s roster this season, as well as Indianapolis area kids, Joey Brunk and Trayce Jackson-Davis were monumental for the Hoosiers. All three of them were evidently comfortable playing in the professional arena that they grew up so close to.
(12/14/19 4:37pm)
What was supposed to be one of the easier conference games of the season for Indiana ended up becoming a serious dogfight with Nebraska at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Friday night.
Sloppy defense, turnovers and stagnant offense were just a few of the underlying themes to a 96-90 overtime win for the Hoosiers. The win bumps Indiana up to 10-1 on the season and evens its Big Ten record at 1-1, but it was anything but easy.
It’s inevitable that no Big Ten matchup is an easy game, but Nebraska has been nothing close to impressive for the season. With Friday's loss, the Cornhuskers are 4-6 and own the lowest KenPom ranking in the Big Ten at No. 149.
Nebraska did not look like a 4-6 team Friday. Indiana as a whole struggled mightily against the Cornhuskers, shooting 5-for-25 from the 3-point line, 71.1 percent from the free-throw line and committed nine second-half turnovers (15 total). Defensively, it was a really rough outing too.
The low point of the defensive effort came in Nebraska’s final possession of regulation. Indiana had a defensive breakdown, allowing Nebraska’s Dachon Burke to hit a deep three while being fouled and down four with a second left, Burke hit the free throw to tie the game and send it to overtime.
“We can't guard the ball,” Indiana head coach Archie Miller said. “And those guys really exposed us to start the game. In our two Big Ten games here in December, our defense has gotten shredded.”
The defense was ugly, the mistakes were plentiful, but freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis’ superb performance overshadowed the game’s negatives.
Jackson-Davis was held to just three points in a very inactive first half, but throughout the second half and overtime, the freshman asserted himself for a career night. The post player led the team with a career-high 25 points and 15 rebounds.
“In the first half I didn't really try to put an emphasis on running the floor very hard, and I thought I could beat my man down the floor,” Jackson-Davis said. “In the second half, I tried to run past him and get as deep as I could and try to leg whip over him. And I got a few easy buckets on that, and when you see a shot go in, it gives you the confidence to knock down other ones.”
(12/12/19 3:28pm)
Just like Tuesday’s 57-54 win over Connecticut, Indiana will have another shot to right the ship when they head back home to the friendly confines of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to host Nebraska on Friday.
The 9-1 Hoosiers bounced back with a win against the Huskies after getting dominated and losing by 20 to Wisconsin last Saturday. Nebraska looks to be a lesser opponent than both Wisconsin and UConn this season, but the game still holds dire importance as it is a conference game.
The Wisconsin loss has Indiana at an 0-1 record in Big Ten play thus far, but they can even that figure with a win on Saturday. This will be the second and final early season Big Ten game for the Hoosiers. After Friday, Indiana won’t play another Big Ten team until Jan. 4 when they play Maryland on the road.
A year ago, Nebraska embarrassed Indiana in Bloomington, winning 66-51. It was one of the worst games the Hoosiers played all season. Indiana shot 36.5 percent from the field, 57.9 percent from the free-throw line and only made two of their 14 3-point attempts for the game.
New coach, new look
Now, Nebraska looks very different from the 19-17 team from a season ago. The Cornhuskers lost five seniors including standouts James Palmer Jr., Isaac Copeland and lost junior forward Isaiah Roby to the 2019 NBA Draft.
Nebraska is off to a very slow start in the first year of the Fred Hoiberg era. Without their stars from a year ago, they hold a 4-5 record with some really poor losses.
To start the season, Nebraska lost to UC-Riverside by 19 and Southern Utah in double overtime. They later lost to George Mason by 19 a few weeks later and they are currently on a two-game losing streak, losing by double digits on the road to Georgia Tech and Creighton. At one point early in the first half against Creighton, the Cornhuskers found themselves down 37-7.
Their best wins would be Washington State and South Florida. Nebraska is currently ranked No. 156 in the KenPom rankings, the only Big Ten team not to be in the top 100.
Struggling across the board
As a team, they do not score or defend particularly well. The Cornhuskers are only shooting 43 percent from the field as a team and are allowing opponents to outscore them, giving up 77.2 points per game and scoring an average of 73.6 points themselves.
Nebraska’s biggest struggle seems to be on the boards and from the free-throw line. They get outrebounded by an average of 12 rebounds per game. Nebraska also is shooting a horrid 56 percent from the charity stripe.
Three guards to watch
The bright spots of the roster include three guards in senior Haanif Cheatham, sophomore Cam Mack and junior Dachon Burke Jr. All three players are the leading scorers and are averaging nearly 12 points and four rebounds per game. Cheatham is the most efficient shooter of the bunch, nailing 57.3 percent of his shots and Mack is the team’s best distributor, accumulating 51 assists in just nine games.
Indiana will look to limit the trio of guards, hit the boards hard and force the Cornhuskers to earn their points at the line.
If they follow that strategy and limit the sloppy mistakes displayed on Tuesday, the Hoosiers could be in prime position to even their conference record and get a second consecutive win.
(12/11/19 2:48pm)
It was ugly, it came down to the wire, but Indiana got a desperately needed win over Connecticut on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of the Jimmy V Classic.
The Hoosiers just edged the Huskies, 57-54, in a defensive-oriented game with plenty of sloppy play from both squads.
Indiana needed a little bit from everybody to get the job done, displaying the strength of their depth to make a balanced offensive attack. Not one Hoosier even scored in double digits, but the return of sophomore guard Rob Phinisee made all the difference.
The sophomore had missed the past four games due to injury but was reliable as ever on Tuesday. His numbers weren’t eye-popping — he recorded six points, four rebounds and two assists in only 13 minutes on the court — but that doesn’t tell the story.
Despite it being his first game in action after injury, Phinisee did not shy away from the moment. Down the stretch he hit a few clutch free throws and hit the boards hard to maintain IU’s lead.
It wasn’t a pretty offensive showing from Indiana by any means, hitting 36.8 percent of their shots from the field and only going 2-for-13 from the 3-point line, but with Phinisee on the court the offensive looked smoother with him running the show.
Phinisee’s presence certainly improves Indiana as a team, and also raises the level of depth in the Hoosiers’ rotation.
Increased depth and scoring options are what Indiana is going to need to continue to get quality wins like Tuesday’s over UConn. It is also needed to buck the negative trends of struggle in the previous years of the Archie Miller era.
The Hoosiers had to prove they could win outside of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden was the perfect place to do so. After squashing any momentum from their home win over No. 17 Florida State with a follow-up 20-point loss at Wisconsin, the Hoosiers’ legitimacy was put in question.
Connecticut may not be a ranked team, but it is a quality win against a quality opponent, nonetheless. In years’ past this is a game that Miller's Indiana teams would typically struggle in. Tough games on the road, and road games in general, were very troublesome for the team.
In the first two seasons of the Miller era, in games away from home (including neutral site games) Indiana had an 8-19 record. Two of those games have been in Indianapolis for the Crossroads Classic.
This win is a big step forward for the team, and it ultimately shows how the team needs Phinisee as well as all 11 of their scholarship players healthy to maximize their depth and potential.
(12/09/19 5:48pm)
After suffering a brutal 84-64 defeat at Wisconsin to open Big Ten play, Indiana faces another challenging test just 72 hours later.
On Tuesday night, Indiana will face Connecticut as part of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The neutral site matchup will be the nightcap, taking place at 9 p.m. and following the first game of Louisville and Texas Tech. The last time Indiana played in the Jimmy V Classic was 2014 where the Hoosiers lost 94-74 to Louisville.
This will be Indiana’s first neutral site game of the season and second road trip; the Wisconsin loss was the first road game of the year.
Indiana will be seeking validation on a national stage and to prove that the beatdown by the Badgers was merely a fluke.
The Hoosiers did not look the least bit comfortable away from Assembly Hall in their last outing, and will have to adjust to playing under the bright lights of the Big Apple in a quick turnaround from the weekend to play a talented and rested Connecticut team.
A look in the mirror
The Huskies will have had nearly a week of rest prior to Tuesday night’s game and have had a solid season thus far. Connecticut holds a 6-2 record and ranks at No. 53 in the KenPom rankings.
Their best wins include a home victory against a talented and once-ranked Florida team as well as a 25-point drubbing of Miami in the Charleston Classic.
The two Connecticut losses are split with one being very respectable, and the other embarrassing. The first loss was the bad one, with the Huskies losing by nine at home to Saint Joseph’s who is the No. 248 team in the KenPom rankings and has a 2-8 record. The other game they dropped was a one-point, double overtime loss to Xavier in the Charleston Classic.
The Huskies’ roster mirrors Indiana in a way with them having a very balanced roster and play a deep, 10-man rotation. The big difference is that Connecticut is more guard-heavy, but the scoring allotment is pretty evenly spread out with them having five scorers averaging double-digit points.
Guards lead the way
Connecticut leans on veteran leadership from two talented guards in senior Christian Vital and redshirt junior Alterique Gilbert.
Vital, the team’s leading scorer, is also a defensive stalwart. The senior guard is chipping in 14.8 points per game and leads the team with 23 steals. Vital is also an excellent rebounder, averaging 8.3 rebounds per game while only being 6-foot-2.
Gilbert is the guard that has the keys to the offense, leading the team with 37 assists and also averages 10.1 points per game. Gilbert was a 2016 McDonald’s All-American but has dealt with a number of injuries throughout his collegiate career, including shoulder injuries that cut his freshman and redshirt freshman seasons well short.
What it comes down to
As a team, the Huskies like to score plenty, they average 76.9 points per game, but do so at a rather inefficient rate. Their overall field goal percentage is only at 41.5 percent compared to Indiana’s nearly 51 percent field goal percentage.
Forcing Connecticut to take poor shots and keeping their field goal percentage low should be a priority for Indiana. The Huskies are a very respectable defensive club though and only let opponents score about 65 points per game and force them to turn it over nearly 17 times per contest.
The defensive ability could be problematic for Indiana who put out their lowest scoring outputs of the season (both 64 points) against Wisconsin and South Dakota State, two other defensive-oriented, slower-paced teams.
Ultimately, if Indiana wants to respond from the disappointment of last weekend the Hoosiers will need to return to their high-scoring offensive identity and limit Vital and Gilbert.
(12/08/19 1:27am)
Just four days after a monumental and dominating win over No. 17 Florida State, Indiana struggled mightily on the road to Wisconsin 84-64 in its first loss of the season.
The 8-1 Hoosiers not only lost the game, but lost all of the momentum they had built throughout the early portion of the season. The team cruised past seven easy low-major non-conference opponents and seemed to prove itself with the Florida State win, but the Wisconsin game put a dent in all of that success.
The bottom line and conclusion from the loss in Madison is that this IU team still has a long way to go and a lot to figure out. All of their offensive and defensive identity was lost on Saturday afternoon.
The game was expected to be difficult; Indiana had not won in Madison since 1998. At the same time, the Hoosiers were playing a 4-4 team and purely looked like a shell of their usual selves.
IU’s defense let the Badgers have a field day, allowing 84 points to a team that had lost their past three games and had not scored more than 54 points in any of them. Wisconsin shot a stout 53.6 percent while shooting 40 percent from the 3-point line, 10 percent better than its season average. The Badgers also took advantage of their free throws, attempting eight fewer than Indiana, but converting on 16 of their 18 shots from the charity stripe.
“We knew we were going to deal with a sharp group who was ready, and they were,” Indiana head coach Archie Miller said on Wisconsin’s offense. “Very sharp offensively, we didn’t have a whole lot of resistance.”
Kobe King and Nate Reuvers led the charge of Wisconsin’s offensive attack. King dropped 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting, burning Indiana particularly in the midrange game.
Reuvers had 20 points while making two-thirds of his looks from the field. He gave Indiana’s post defense fits both down low and around the perimeter. He showed the ability to hit from three (2-for-3 from deep) and take it from the top of the key and drive to the bucket.
On the other side of the floor, Indiana’s offense was just as underwhelming as the defense. The team equaled its lowest scoring output of the season with 64 points and shot its second-worst shooting percentage of the year of 42 percent.
Nothing about the Indiana offense looked comfortable and as a whole looked very out of sync. This is the same Indiana team that was the sixth-highest scoring offense in the country coming into the game, averaging 85.6 points per game.
Nobody in particular was spectacular for Indiana either. Durham had 17 points to lead the team, with eight of those points coming from free throws. The other two leading scorers were Devonte Green and Justin Smith, both with 10 points.
The dismal performance on both ends of the ball was indicative of a team playing its first road game of the season. The typical struggles of playing at the Kohl Center for the Hoosiers coupled with their comfort of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall made for some serious trouble.
Moving forward, it won’t get any easier for Indiana as the team will be put to the test again on Tuesday. The Hoosiers will venture to Madison Square Garden in New York City for the Jimmy V. Classic. Indiana will play a respectable Connecticut team that is 6-2.
“We have a quick turnaround,” Miller said. “This feeling that’s in us right now, it’s not going to go away until you work itself out and you got to earn that right, and we’re going to try real hard to do that as we take the floor on Tuesday.”
(12/06/19 6:33pm)
Fresh off of a statement win over No.17 Florida State for their first ranked victory of the season, Indiana will look to build upon their momentum with a road game at Wisconsin Saturday to open up Big Ten play.
Wisconsin is not having a season like Florida State by any stretch, but the game is still a huge opportunity for Indiana to earn some more validation. Following up a 16-point win over a ranked opponent with a conference road win to start Big Ten play at 1-0 would certainly put Indiana in the discussion for potentially being ranked in the next polls.
Wisconsin has not started out very smoothly and does not look the part of a typical Wisconsin team of years past. The Badgers are 4-4 thus far and have lost their last three games to Richmond, New Mexico and most recently at North Carolina State as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Wisconsin’s only impressive win has been a 16-point drubbing of Marquette at home.
Even with Wisconsin in the midst of what looks to be a down year, this game has the potential to be deceivingly difficult for the Hoosiers.
Leaving the past in the past
This is Indiana’s first road game of the season which should really test the team after being in the comfort of Assembly Hall for the first eight games. Along with that, playing in Madison is a very difficult place to play. This is especially the case for the Hoosiers as the last time they won at Wisconsin — and the only time they have ever won at the Kohl Center — was in 1998.
A year ago, these teams only played once, and it was a thriller. Indiana won at home in double overtime thanks to a game winning layup by then-freshman Romeo Langford. Langford is obviously gone now, but so is former Wisconsin star Ethan Happ. Happ was one of the best players in school history, garnering second-team All-American honors in his senior year along with being a three-time first-team All-Big Ten honoree.
With Happ gone, juniors of Nate Reuvers and Brad Davison have emerged as Wisconsin’s top players.
Reuvers, a 6-foot-11 power forward, will test the Hoosiers on the inside with his great scoring ability, averaging 15.4 points per game while shooting a bit under 50 percent from the field. Reuvers is also a very reliable free-throw shooter for a big man, hitting 79 percent of his looks. The junior forward also has 18 blocks on the year while grabbing 5.7 rebounds per game.
Davison has been a reliable player and contributor in all three years of his time as a Badger. The junior guard is scoring 12.1 points per game while showing great rebounding ability for a guard, averaging about four per game. He has been an efficient 3-point shooter for his career at about 35 percent, but this season that figure is slightly down at 31 percent.
Getting the offense going early
Reuvers and Davison make up the main scoring punch for a team that really does not score a whole lot. Wisconsin has built a reputation over the years for having a great foundation of defense and playing in low-scoring games. That is the case once again this year as the Badgers only are scoring 68.3 points per game. Indiana is quite the opposite, scoring 85.6 points per contest, good for eighth-best in the country.
In order to overcome the crowd and nerves of the first road game, Indiana has to get scoring early and often to dictate the pace. Wisconsin slowing the game down to their preferred pace would even the game out with Indiana.
If Indiana could get the game moving faster and force the Badgers to score to keep up, that would put Wisconsin at a major disadvantage. The Badgers’ offense as of late has been particularly dismal. They did not score more than 54 points in their past three games.
Proving it
Look for the Hoosiers to try and keep feeding their senior guard Devonte Green after he had his career-high 30 points in the win over Florida State. This could be a game that plays well to IU’s 3-point shooters.
Guys like Green, Damezi Anderson, Al Durham and others could have some good opportunities as Wisconsin does not guard the perimeter well. The Badgers are allowing opponents to convert on 35 percent of their looks from deep throughout the season.
Despite a standout win over the Seminoles on Tuesday this could be a “prove-it” game for the Hoosiers. A year ago, after Indiana got their standout win over Marquette at home, they followed that in their first two road games of the year with losses at Arkansas and Duke.
Playing in its first road game will answer a lot of questions about this Indiana team.
(12/04/19 6:45am)
When a team has 18 turnovers, 19 fouls and is facing a ranked team with a major height advantage, a win is not the expectation.
That’s exactly what happened to Indiana against No. 17 Florida State. But they won, 80-64, and kept their undefeated season alive at 8-0.
It’s true, Indiana did have the struggles listed, but they also had something else to make up for all of that.
A cheat code, by the name of Devonte Green.
“There wasn't a whole lot of coaching that went into anything he did, as usual,” Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller said about Green’s playmaking ability. “When he's good, he's good on his own.”
The senior guard proved to be the difference-maker he was expected to be prior to the season with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting, going 5-for-7 from the three-point line.
The points came in bursts, and they were certainly impressive. His jumper was on tonight and he made plenty of circus shots, just like signature Devonte. His driving ability was great, finding plenty of success at the rim too.
Green’s contributions were essential, and without them Indiana might not have got the statement win that they’ve been needing. After taking some slack for playing seven consecutive low-major opponents to start the season, the Hoosiers put questions over the legitimacy of their undefeated record to bed.
Green also cemented his legitimacy as Indiana’s most important player, bringing far more than just scoring. His usual elaborate and fun passes were present tonight to the tune of three assists. Overall, his scoring and ball movement set the tempo for an Indiana offense that really struggled when he wasn’t on the floor.
More than just offense, the defensive effort was strong too. He snagged six rebounds, the second most on the team for the night, and also corralled two steals.
Where Green may have been the most important can’t be measured on a stat sheet. His composure.
“He (Green) rose to the level that a senior guard in that game you hope that is able to do,” Miller said. “Not get 30, but just make the plays to alleviate some of the pressure. And he made almost every single one of them for us.”
This was not the Devonte Green of years past that had a reputation for being erratic. Green had his crazy moments, but he was calculated and let the flow of the game come to him.
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That composure was crucial in guiding a still learning Indiana team that had its stretches of mental lapses and sloppy play throughout the game.
"Green, I thought he did a great job of just being in the moment," Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton said. "This was a very important game for them and I thought he got himself mentally into that zone that sometimes great shooters will get into. You hate to run into them."
In the second half, there were multiple sequences where Indiana looked to be in trouble of blowing an 11-point halftime lead. Every time, Green was imperative in weathering the storm.
Florida State got it down to a three-point game a few times, but once Indiana figured out how to break the press late in the second half, the Hoosiers weren’t looking back.
“They bring a lot of pressure and they cause a lot of turnovers. I just, like I said also earlier, I just got to stay poised and move on to the next play,” Green said.
The extreme on-ball pressure from Florida State initially gave Indiana fits, and was a big reason for issues inbounding the ball and 18 turnovers, 12 of them coming in the second half. There were some very uncharacteristic moments of the team when dealing with it. Damezi Anderson had a five-second call when trapped and Trayce Jackson-Davis brought the ball up at one point but got bailed out by a foul.
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Without Rob Phinisee tonight, who was out due to injury, Green had to take responsibility as the best ballhandler and battle the bulk of the press. It was difficult, but he got Indiana through it.
Being a team captain and senior, Indiana is going to be relying a lot more on Green to guide them throughout this season. The question is, can they continue what they showed they’re capable of against the Seminoles?
A year ago, in Indiana’s first big match-up, they crushed Marquette by 23, only to follow that performance with a road loss at Arkansas and getting destroyed at Duke not long after that.
Not every team the Hoosiers are going to play will be ranked like Florida State, but it won’t be easy from here on out. They only have high-major non-conference opponents and Big Ten play left for the rest of the year.
Regardless of opponent, Indiana’s success and potential this season goes through Devonte Green.
(12/02/19 6:08pm)
For Indiana basketball, the real season starts now.
After hosting, and beating, seven consecutive low-major conference opponents to start the season, the Hoosiers will play their first big-time opponent Tuesday when the Florida State Seminoles come to Bloomington for a late 9 p.m. tip-off as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
This game will be the first of 24 straight games against high-major opponents for Indiana, including both Big Ten and nonconference schools.
Florida State may be up there for one of the toughest matchups the Hoosiers have of those 24 games. The Seminoles are red hot, gathering wins over No. 17 Tennessee and Purdue last weekend to win the Emerald Coast Classic. Florida State entered the polls for the first time this season with a debut ranking of No. 17 in the AP Poll.
Florida State holds a 6-1 record with three high-major wins and two wins over ranked opponents already. They beat No. 24 Florida on the road earlier in the season in addition to Tennessee and Purdue. Their only loss was a two-point road defeat at Pittsburgh to start the season.
A deep rotation
It is easy to see why a team like Florida State is ranked when looking at its roster. Long time Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton plays a similar rotation to Indiana. He has a very deep roster to work with, allowing 10-plus guys to get in every game. The Seminoles have 12 players who play at least 10 minutes per game, but four in particular stand out.
Sophomore and 6-foot-7 guard Devin Vassell has stepped up big-time in his second collegiate season, leading the team with 12.4 points per game along with 4.1 rebounds per game. Vassell also knocks down 42.1 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Starting point guard Trent Forrest is the Seminoles’ undisputed leader as the lone senior on the roster and has been a steady contributor for the team throughout his entire career. Forrest gets the job done in a number of ways for Florida State.
The point guard is averaging 4.5 assists per game in his senior campaign but is also currently 10th all-time in total assists in school history. Forrest is the second-leading scorer with an average of 11.7 points per game. He also leads the team with 11 steals so far this season.
Junior guard M.J. Walker and freshman forward Patrick Williams are the next guys up for Florida State and also were both five-star recruits coming out of high school. Walker was a 2017 McDonald’s All-American and is averaging 11 points and 3.8 rebounds thus far in his junior campaign.
Williams is an interesting talent, being a 6-foot-8 big with a really nice jumper. Williams chips in 10.4 points per game while converting on 36.4 percent of his looks from deep and is Florida State’s best free-throw shooter, making 94.4 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe.
Beyond the star power, what will really make Florida State difficult for IU is the sheer number of athletes the team can put on the floor at any time. The Seminoles can easily make substitutions as part of their deep rotation and have plenty of height to pick from. Seven of Florida State’s players are 6-foot-8 or taller, and they have two seven-foot players as well in Balsa Koprivica and Dominik Olejniczak.
Trying to match up with FSU's size
For perspective, Indiana has four players 6-foot-8, or bigger, and none of them reach seven-foot. Expect Indiana’s post players —Race Thompson, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Joey Brunk and De’Ron Davis —to play heavy minutes to try and counteract Florida State’s ridiculous height. Justin Smith, who has played both on the wing and inside this year, will also be crucial in matching Florida State’s athleticism.
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In addition, Indiana might run some taller lineups in general with more minutes for bench guys like Damezi Anderson and Jerome Hunter, who have good height (both 6-foot-7) and can match up better athletically with Florida State than a lot of IU’s roster.
Getting back on track offensively
Indiana will need to get creative offensively to counteract Florida State’s height and rim protection down low. Florida State holds opponents to 36 percent field goal shooting and does an even better job guarding the perimeter, only allowing 28.8 percent of opponent’s looks to fall.
The midrange jumper has been viable weapon for Indiana this season and it could be something that is seen more of against the Seminoles. Getting to the free-throw line and getting Florida State in foul trouble will be key as well.
In general, IU needs to find an offensive rhythm again. The Hoosiers still have the sixth highest scoring offense in the country with an average of 86.4 points per game, but they didn’t show it in the South Dakota State win on Saturday, scoring only 64 points for the night.
At the end of the day, this will be a big test for Indiana as they try to prove their undefeated start over lesser competition wasn’t meaningless. A win over a ranked team and a team that has made two consecutive Sweet 16 appearances would give the Hoosiers’ early success validation.
(12/01/19 3:06am)
Despite a relentless effort from the opposition and never truly being able to separate themselves, the Hoosiers hung on to beat South Dakota State 64-50 at home Sunday afternoon.
The win keeps Indiana's undefeated record alive at 7-0, and also finishes the early season slate of seven consecutive low-major conference opponents. From here on out, Indiana will finish its regular season with 24 straight high-major opponents, including both non-conference and Big Ten teams.
Indiana will start the difficult stretch at home on Tuesday as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, hosting a talented Florida State team that has won two games against ranked teams already in Florida and Tennessee.
Before looking ahead to IU's matchup with the Seminoles, let’s take a look at three takeaways from Indiana’s win over South Dakota State.
Unimpressive Offense
It was a bit of a lackluster day on the offensive end for Indiana. 64 points is the lowest scoring output from the Hoosiers all season and it isn’t close. Their next lowest total came in the Princeton win, scoring 79 and their only game where they haven’t eclipsed 80.
The team had a 41.4 field goal percentage on the day, but the offense was very concentrated among three players and there wasn’t much scoring contribution otherwise. Justin Smith, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Devonte Green all were in double digits scoring, carrying the load for the team.
Junior guard (and the team’s leading scorer) Al Durham only had five points on a rough shooting night, going 2-for-7 from the field and 1-for-4 from the three-point line. Sophomore forward Damezi Anderson also chipped in five points, but Anderson and Durham accounted for the next leading scorers beyond the three in double digits.
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller attributed much of the offensive struggle to the lack of ball security.
“If you look at the turnovers, it's just destroyed our offense,” Miller said. “We really haven't taken care of the ball very well.”
Indiana recorded 19 turnovers on the night, far more than the Hoosiers’ usual game average of 12.2.
Limiting Wilson
What Indiana lacked in offense was made up for with a stellar defensive effort on South Dakota State’s best player, Douglas Wilson. The junior forward and junior college transfer is the Jackrabbits’ number one option in the offense, but he struggled mightily against Indiana.
Wilson only recorded 17 minutes for the entire game, thanks to some early foul trouble. Wilson racked up two quick fouls early in the game, making him a nonexistent threat in the first half and ended up fouling out in the second.
Wilson only had 6 points and two rebounds for the game, both figures significantly lower than his usual numbers of 17 points and 6 rebounds per contest. He also had three turnovers.
More than just Wilson, holding South Dakota State to only 50 points is indicative of a strong defensive effort as a whole. It's the fewest points allowed by Indiana all season.
Moreover, other than Jackrabitt junior guard Tray Buchanan who had 15, Indiana didn’t allow anyone on South Dakota State to reach double digits scoring. Baylor Schierman was South Dakota State’s second-leading scorer with seven points.
Despite only allowing 50 points, Coach Miller still wants more out of his defense before Tuesday’s primetime match-up with Florida State.
“There's not enough shot blocking, there's not enough hard plays at the basket, but that's getting ready to really change as we get ready to keep move forward here on, especially on Tuesday with the amount of size, talent, and athleticism that's going to come our way,” Miller said.
TJD Keeps Rolling
Albeit, the opponents have not been the most difficult and there has been a lack of legitimate post players for him to match up against, but freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis added another monster performance to an already impressive season.
Against the Jackrabbits, Jackson-Davis led the team with 19 points and 14 rebounds to account for his fourth double-double of the season. He also had an impressive, and another team-high, four blocks. His 19 points came on an impressive 9-17 shooting night and of his 14 rebounds, nine of them were offensive, giving Indiana plenty of second chance opportunities on offense.
“He's a spring off the boards in terms of being able to go get the ball,” Miller said. “He's getting balls that other guys can't get. Nine offensive rebounds is something else. But 19 and 14 is obviously a big deal.”
The freshman has arguably been Indiana’s most consistent and best player throughout the season. On the season he is barely short of averaging a double-double, putting up 15.6 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game. He is also converting on a wildly efficient 66.1 percent of his shots.
(11/29/19 8:11pm)
At 6-0 and following a recent win over its toughest nonconference opponent thus far, Louisiana Tech, Indiana is rolling.
The Hoosiers will have the opportunity to continue their undefeated season as well as build upon their momentum with a home test against South Dakota State on Saturday afternoon.
The matchup with the Jackrabbits will mark the final game against a low-major opponent for the Hoosiers for the rest of the season. After Saturday, Indiana will play 24 straight games against high-major competition.
Like Louisiana Tech, South Dakota State is an opponent that deserves Indiana’s attention and should not be overlooked. The Jackrabbits’ KenPom rating isn’t close to as high as the Bulldogs, but they are the only other low-major opponent IU plays that has a top 200 KenPom rating and a winning record at 6-3.
South Dakota State has played three high-major teams thus far, all on the road, losing handedly to USC and Nebraska, but challenged No. 14 Arizona and only lost by seven. Additionally, South Dakota State has plenty of recent experience in the NCAA Tournament. They missed the big dance a season ago, but have made it the three seasons prior to that.
Let’s take a closer look at the Jackrabbits and what the Hoosiers can do to counter.
Limiting Douglas Wilson
A year ago, for South Dakota State the man to watch out for was Mike Daum, the three-time Summit League player of the year. Daum has graduated, though, and Douglas Wilson has taken the reins as the Jackrabbits’ top player.
Wilson is a junior and in his first year with the Jackrabbits. He transferred to South Dakota State after playing two years with Kirkwood Community College in Iowa where he won the 2018-2019 NJCAA National Championship and National Player of the Year.
Wilson has not missed a beat in translating his game to the Division I level, leading the team in scoring. He averages 17.8 points per game while boasting a 60.8 field goal percentage. The 6-foot-7 forward also is hauling in 7.8 rebounds per game.
Indiana will try to limit Wilson’s touches around the basket as much as possible. Wilson does not extend his scoring range to deep jumpers as he has missed all three of his 3-point attempts this year. Indiana might be more considerate to foul Wilson when he gets good position inside as he struggles from the charity stripe. He has only converted a little under 65 percent of his free throws.
Height advantage
This game offers Indiana an opportunity to let its post players have a lot of freedom operating around the basket on both ends of the floor.
As a whole, South Dakota State does not have a ton of height compared to Indiana. The Jackrabbits have six players who range between 6-foot-6 to 6-foot-8, but they have nobody taller than that. Of the two 6-foot-8 players, only of them, Matt Dentlinger, starts while the other Alou Dillon, plays sparingly.
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With the lack of height compared to Indiana’s post guys, this could be a game that Indiana dominates on the low block. This opportunity is especially appealing for De’Ron Davis and Joey Brunk who are 6-foot-10 and 6-foot-11, respectively.
Brunk has found his rhythm as of late, reaching double-digit scoring in the past two games and a season-high 16 points against Princeton. This could be a game for Davis to find a similar rhythm and momentum to Brunk. Davis has struggled to find any consistency this season, averaging two points per game and only playing a little over nine minutes per game.
Scoring differential
Entering the game as second in the nation in scoring at 90.2 points per game, Indiana’s offense has been very strong in the young season. Part of this is due to some increased pace of play in head coach Archie Miller’s offense, but also the number of weapons Indiana has scoring the ball.
South Dakota State has the ability to put up big numbers offensively, but its offensive output isn’t quite as high as Indiana. The Jackrabbits’ average hovers at a respectable 77.8 points per game.
The Hoosiers should look to keep putting up big scoring numbers by spreading the ball around offensively. Four Indiana players average double-digit points every contest, including senior guard Devonte Green who in his three games back has quickly asserted himself. He is ramping up his production too, averaging 16 points in his past two games.
Additionally, Indiana is getting good production out of its bench. Nine of Indiana’s 11 scholarship players have found themselves scoring double digits at least once this year. Sophomore forward Damezi Anderson has chipped in 6.2 points per game but is playing well as of late, already matching the total 31 points he scored all of last year through six games this season.
Indiana should look to keep its scoring up by getting to the free-throw line as well. This has been something the Hoosiers have excelled at all year, leading the country in both free throws converted per game (23.3) and attempted (30.8).
(11/25/19 6:52am)
Five games in, and Indiana Basketball has found itself with five easy wins.
This was the position the Hoosiers were supposed to be in at this point, playing five games against five low-major conference opponents. Indiana needed to be undefeated at this point with their schedule set-up of its easier seven low-major conference opponents, all in the first seven games of the season, followed by 24 straight major conference opponents (including Big Ten play).
Tomorrow’s home contest against Louisiana Tech will be the sixth of the seven expectedly easier teams Indiana is playing this year, except for that Louisiana Tech is no pushover.
By KenPom ranking alone, it is noticeable how much better Louisiana Tech is comparatively to the other teams Indiana has faced so far this season. Currently in the KenPom rankings, Louisiana Tech is No. 86, the highest ranked of any Indiana’s first seven opponents by far. None of the teams Indiana has faced prior to the Bulldogs are even ranked inside the top 200.
Through five games, the Bulldogs are 4-1 and have challenged themselves with some of their opponents, playing more major-conference opponents than Indiana has so far. Their only loss comes on the road at Creighton where Louisiana Tech lost by 10. Additionally, in their exhibition match-up the Bulldogs traveled to LSU, a team who made the Sweet 16 a season ago, and fell by 13.
The Bulldogs present a very balanced offensive attack, with six of their players averaging nine points or more. Their top two leading scorers, junior JaColby Pemberton and senior Mubarak Muhammed each only average 11 points per game.
The balanced scoring that Louisiana Tech presents in turn allows them to be an explosive offensive team, putting up 82 points per contest. Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller has made it a priority to tighten up the defense and the Hoosiers’ best defensive effort will be needed against the Bulldogs. Fortunately for the Hoosiers, guarding the perimeter, something that has given Indiana trouble defensively should not be as much of a worry as much of the Bulldog scoring comes from inside. Louisiana Tech only has connected with 29.6 percent of their three-point attempts thus far on the year. With that being said, the pressure will be on Indiana’s post players Joey Brunk, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson and De’Ron Davis among others for guarding the rim effectively.
Something to consider, and that will only be known not long before tip-off, is if Indiana will have everyone available and healthy against Louisiana Tech. In every previous game, Indiana has had at least one scholarship player out due to injury or illness. The team has had almost a whole week off since the Princeton game, so the idea of a completely healthy roster is possible.
Regardless of who is on the floor, Indiana will need a number of players to put the ball in the hoop to keep up with the high-scoring Louisiana Tech offense. Juniors Al Durham and Justin Smith as well as freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis are the Hoosiers’ most consistent scorers, each averaging at least 13 points per game, but senior guard Devonte Green should be another useful weapon. Green is really starting to find his rhythm just two games back from injury. He recorded 16 points on an efficient shooting night, going 5-8 from the field against Princeton. In reality, it could be a couple different guys every night who pick up the scoring slack, as just about every player on the roster has the ability to contribute offensively. Nine of the 11 scholarship players have had one game of 10+ points so far this season.
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Indiana is still figuring out its offensive identity, as it shifts from game to game. The Hoosiers have shown flashes of being a potent team from deep, converting on about an improved 35 percent of their looks this year. Against Troy, they shot just under 40 percent from deep, yet in the very next game against Princeton, they shot poorly from three (3-10) and were much more reliant on scoring inside and by way of the midrange jumper.
The bottom line is that Indiana will need to be at its best defensively to slow down the high-scoring Bulldog offense while also being prepared to get a lot out of its deep roster if the game becomes a shootout. Regardless of the fact that they are a Conference USA team, Louisiana Tech is the Hoosiers’ biggest test yet and should not be overlooked.
(11/21/19 3:40am)
It didn’t take long for Devonte Green to shake off the rust.
In just his second game back from injury, the Green led the way for Indiana in a 79-54 win over Princeton on Wednesday night to move to 5-0 for the first time since the 2013-2014 season.
The senior guard was the key in igniting an Indiana offense that was limited to 35 points and turned the ball over six times in the first half.
“I thought Devonte was terrific,” Indiana head coach Archie Miller said. “He was very impactful in tonight's game. I don't take a whole lot into the plus/minus, but when you're plus-29 in your minutes in the game, that's pretty good.”
Green was tied with Joey Brunk for the most points scored by any Hoosier on the night with 16, tallying 10 points in the second half. More than just scoring, Green was vital in Indiana’s ball movement and offensive flow.
Excellent court vision and pace with some shifty passes were indicative of Green’s effort against the Tigers. He had four assists on the night, but he very well could have had a few more due to a couple of easy misses around the rim from Brunk and Race Thompson.
“He's our best playmaker in terms of making the pass you can't see. He sees it early,” Miller said.
Green was also crucial in Indiana’s ability to score from deep. He was expected to be the team’s top marksman from three going into the season, but Wednesday was an extreme example in showing Green’s importance in that.
Just a game removed from shooting an impressive and much-improved 39 percent against Troy, Indiana significantly struggled from deep tonight. There were good looks, but the team only hit three of 10 3-point shots. Green had two of those 3-pointers and the only other one Indiana hit came in garbage time from walk-on Cooper Bybee.
What was also encouraging for Green and Indiana’s backcourt strength was the fact that Green’s quick improvement from his first appearance of the season against Troy, to his effort against Princeton.
“Definitely feeling a lot more comfortable,” Green said. “I've been out for a while, but it feels good to be back, and I feel comfortable out there with my team.”
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Green shot the ball far better against the Tigers. The senior went 5-for-8 on field goals and 2-for-3 on field goals from deep compared to a six-point night against Troy where he was 2-for-8 for the game and 1-for-6 on 3-point shots.
Green did not start the game, rather it was freshman Armaan Franklin and the usual group that has started for Indiana all year thus far. But to start the second half, Green got the nod over Franklin.
Whether that means Green will reclaim his usual starting spot is to be determined, but it should be noted that of the guards, Green and Durham played significantly more than Franklin and Phinisee. Green recorded 26 minutes and Durham 29. Franklin and Phinisee had 12 and 11, respectively. It should be noted as well that Phinisee is still recovering from injury and got a little banged up in the second half too.
Miller emphasized that Indiana will get the most out of Green is by keeping his instant offense the same but also to keep it under control.
“He's so aggressive and he knows he can impact the game,” Miller said. “But you've got to understand those ones when you're aggressive, how to take them. I think that's the only thing I stress to him is to play smart and play simple. If he does that, he'll play a big role with what we're doing."
(11/20/19 12:30am)
With plenty of momentum under its belt, Indiana finds itself undefeated with a 4-0 record going into Wednesday night’s home contest with Princeton.
Last Saturday’s 100-62 win over Troy was Indiana’s most complete effort of the year, both on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. They hit a season-high nine 3-point shots, held the Trojans to shooting just 20 percent from deep and four Hoosiers reached double-digit scoring outputs.
Even without a win thus far, 0-3 Princeton might be the toughest team Indiana will face at this point in the season. This will be the first team the Hoosiers have played thus far that finished last season with a winning record (16-12). Additionally, the Tigers are consistent threats in the Ivy League, last making the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and amassing 25 appearances in program history.
Let’s take a look a deeper look into the threat Princeton poses and what to expect from Indiana.
Princeton’s three-headed monster
When it comes to Princeton’s offense, the Tigers are pretty concentrated from where their scoring comes from. Princeton has three players averaging 13 points or more, and everyone else on the roster scores four points per game or less.
Despite lack of depth as a team, the three who do the majority of the offensive work are very talented.
Senior center Richmond Aririguzoh is the Tigers’ top player, entering the game tied for first on the team with a 17.3 points per game average while shooting 64.7 percent from the field. The 6-foot-9 center is also grabbing 7.7 rebounds per game too. Aririguzoh was a Second-Team All-Ivy League selection last year.
Sophomore guard Jaelin Llewellyn has shown the ability to score the rock with the same scoring average as Aririguzoh while also distributing the ball well with 2.3 assists per contest. Llewellyn was a Top 100 ranked, four-star recruit coming out of high school, picking Princeton over high-major offers such as Florida, Purdue, Ohio State and others.
Another Princeton sophomore, Drew Friberg, is a 6-foot-7 forward who Indiana will have to pay close attention to on the perimeter. Friberg is shooting just under 41 percent from deep in route to his 13.3 points per game scoring average. Friberg also chips in 6.7 rebounds per game.
Indiana’s big men getting put to the test
The Princeton game will be the first matchup of the season where Indiana is going to need a lot out of its big men, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
Indiana has not faced many stud post players yet this season, but Aririguzoh is going to demand Indiana’s attention as he is Princeton’s best player and dominant center. The Hoosiers’ Joey Brunk and De’Ron Davis will really be tested Wednesday.
Brunk and Davis both have played limited roles offensively thus far and the Hoosiers have not had to be very reliant on them in the post because of the lack of true big men faced and that every game has been a blowout win. Both Hoosier centers are playing fewer than 20 minutes per game.
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Guarding the post was perhaps the only struggle in the Troy win as sophomore big Zay Jones scored a game-high 28 points on the Hoosiers from 11-for-19 shooting and corralled seven rebounds in the process. A stout defensive performance from Brunk and Davis on Aririguzoh would be a great opportunity to make up for their struggles against Troy.
Green getting back to normal
Against Troy, Indiana’s offense was at its best that it has been all season, reaching the century mark for the first time this season and recording the highest scoring half ever — 58 points in the first half — in the Archie Miller era at Indiana.
This was all done with a very rusty Devonte Green. Green got 20 minutes in his first game of the season back from a hamstring injury against Troy.
Green is still recovering, but it will be interesting to see how he progresses against Princeton and if he can get his shot falling consistently. The offense was moving smoothly with Green on the floor, but he only shot 2-for-8 from the field and was 1-for-6 from the 3-point line.
Green, a career 38 percent 3-point shooter, is arguably Indiana’s best marksman from deep and showed the ability to be a lethal scorer for this team at the end of last season.
If Green can shake off the rust and find his stroke, Indiana’s 3-point shooting can become a legitimate weapon and their offense much more potent.
(11/17/19 4:51am)
The three-point line made all the difference in Indiana’s dominant 100-62 win over Troy Saturday night to move to 4-0 for the first time in the Archie Miller era.
Both offensively and defensively, the Hoosiers owned the perimeter and flipped the script on the team’s preexisting struggles.
The most noticeable difference from tonight comparatively to the first three games was the vastly improved perimeter defense. Prior to the Troy game, the Hoosiers’ most glaring issue was guarding teams from the three-point line, allowing opponents to make 40.7-percent of their looks from three.
“Our guys on the ball I thought did a much better job to start the game in terms of our pressure and just not letting them be comfortable,” Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller said.
Tonight was a different story against Troy. The team’s No. 1 offensive strength had been three-point shooting, knocking down threes at just above 40-percent on the season. Against Indiana, it only hit 20 percent of its looks, going 5-for-25 from deep.
The improved three-point defense patched up the team’s defense as a whole, limiting opportunities for big scoring bunches from Troy and giving up a season-low 62 points.
Offensively, the three-point line is slowly starting to become a weapon Indiana did not have a season ago. There has been noticeable and gradual improvement from deep with this team throughout the early portion of the season.
In this young season, Indiana is shooting 36.2 percent from deep, a noticeable five percent increase from last year’s lowly 31.2 percent mark that tied for 313th in all of Division I college basketball last season.
“Shooting the ball and making the shots just makes the game easy,” Miller said. “It just does. Everything is easier when you're able to make some shots.”
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Against Troy, Indiana found their rhythm from deep, making 39-percent of its shots from beyond the arc while hitting a season-high nine shots from long range as well. Five Hoosiers made a three-point attempt, including Al Durham, Justin Smith, Armaan Franklin, Devonte Green and Damezi Anderson. Durham, Smith and Anderson all converted on multiple three-point shots, too, with Durham leading the way with three.
“We work on it every single day,” Smith said on three-point shooting. “We're just looking to continue to get better and just hit open shots, take good shots, and really just get the ball moving.”
While 39-percent from three is great for Indiana, it could have been even better. In his first minutes of the season, senior guard Devonte Green, a usual three-point marksman for the Hoosiers, was a bit rusty and shot a very atypical 1-for-6 from deep. Additionally, Jerome Hunter, who is also considered a prolific shooter and had a lot of recent success, shot uncharacteristically poor from the three-point line (0-for-3).
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With what Indiana got from its three-point shooters and what could have been as well, that is a very encouraging sign for the team’s offense moving forward. Throw in another capable shooter in sophomore guard Rob Phinisee, who was out tonight with illness, and the team’s potential from the three-point line only grows.
Having more shooting is always a good thing, but it is a particularly good thing for Indiana. The offense opens up tremendously with more emphasis from deep. It also allows more guys on the roster to find their spot in the rotation and add quality shooting, such as Damezi Anderson, who hit two three-pointers tonight in route to a season and career-high 14 points.
“They've worked very hard, and I think they have confidence in themselves right now shooting the ball,” Miller said.
(11/15/19 8:45pm)
Three games into the season, Indiana has three wins under its belt. Albeit, all of the Hoosiers' wins have been against low-major conference teams and games they were expected to win.
On Saturday night, Indiana will have a similar test with visiting Troy next up on the schedule. The Trojans are winless, losing two close contests at home to UAB and Chattanooga. A season ago, Troy went 12-18 and did not qualify for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Should Indiana win the game, this will be its first time starting the season 4-0 since the 2014-2015 season.
Let’s delve into the matchup between the Hoosiers and Trojans a little closer with three things to watch for in the game.
Will Indiana’s defense shape up?
To go along with the lack of recent success for Troy, another positive for Indiana is that Troy is a lower-scoring team, which should help out an Indiana defense that has had its fair share of struggles early in the season. Troy is averaging 71.5 points per contest while Indiana defensively is allowing opponents to score an average just slightly under that at 68 points per game.
"Without question, that's the one thing that I can't stress enough that is not ready to play big time college basketball is our defense," Archie Miller said.
While that works favorably for the Hoosiers, their biggest defensive struggle, the perimeter defense is something Troy could exploit. As a team, the Hoosiers have allowed opponents to shoot slightly above 40 percent from deep this season. Troy has found much of its offensive success from the 3-point line, shooting 40.7 percent from long range.
The sample size is very small, but Troy has five players shooting above 40 percent from the 3-point line and in two games, the team has put up 54 3-point attempts. So, even if the Trojans' field goal success is skewed, they are likely to still challenge Indiana and shoot plenty from long range.
For reference, Indiana has only attempted 46 3-point shots in three games.
Does Rob Phinisee slide back into the starting lineup?
Coming into the season marred with injury and having to sit out for almost all of October, Rob Phinisee was limited to start the year.
After a few games, he looks more comfortable and like his usual self. He was the second leading scorer (13) and had the second most minutes (22) recorded for the Hoosiers in the win over North Alabama. He also played 26 minutes against Portland State.
With Phinisee showing he is healthy enough to carry more of the load than he was in the beginning of the season, it is possible that he retakes his usual spot as the team’s starting point guard. Freshman Armaan Franklin has been starting in Phinisee’s absence for the time being but has seen his minutes played slightly decrease in every game thus far.
Additionally, with Phinisee being the team’s best on-ball defender it would make sense to see Phinisee starting to help address the team’s struggles with perimeter defense.
Ultimately, health will determine Phinisee’s starting status. It should be noted that head coach Archie Miller does not think Phinisee is back to full health yet.
“He's starting to practice full go now,” Miller said after the North Alabama win. “He doesn't really have a ton of restrictions, and we'll see. Do I think he's 100 percent? No.”