The Hoosiers pulled it off, beating the Butler Bulldogs
82-73 (blowing my prediction way out of the water). They showed solid dominance to start the
game, getting out to a 10-point lead before allowing Butler to tie the game
going into half. The second half started
much the same as the first ended, with Butler building a lead on its
momentum before IU dominated down the stretch to win the game. The MVPs would have to go to Troy Williams
and Yogi Ferrell in this one, with Best Supporting Actors going to Collin
Hartman and Hanner Mosquera-Perea.
Half Number One:
Aside from a massive brain fart for the last about three
minutes of the half, the word to describe the Hoosiers was aggressive. They outrebounded the Bulldogs 25-18,
including having an 11-4 edge on offensive boards. Williams was flat out brilliant in the half,
compiling 12 points, three boards, an assist, and a steal on 4-8 shooting (he
should have had a block, but for some reason the refs couldn’t tell that it was
obviously not a goaltend). The one
complaint on Williams is he is still choosing to take jumpers early in the shot
clock when it’s not necessary. Stan
Robinson and Hartman were also aggressive off the bench with four points
each. Mosquera-Perea contributed solid
minutes with six points, five rebounds, and three blocks.
The other Hoosiers (especially the starters), however,
mostly struggled in the first half, with Ferrell, James Blackmon Jr., and Rob
Johnson combining for five points (Ferrell had 0). Ferrell was limited in his minutes, as he had
two fouls in the first five minutes.
On the other end of the court, Butler was able to do whatever it wanted
in the paint, scoring their first 31 points (out of 38 in the half) either in
the paint or at the free throw line. On
that note, Indiana just didn’t have an answer for Kellen Dunham (especially
late), as he led all scorers with 18, including 9-9 from the line, shooting as
many free throws on his own as the entire Indiana team did in the half. Dunham aside, however, Indiana held its own
on defense, not giving up offensive rebounds even as they did allow too many
drives.
Now, about that brain fart. The Hoosiers mostly dominated the Bulldogs for
17 minutes in the first half. But it
only took three minutes of really bad play to wipe that away. The Hoosiers didn’t make one field goal
during that stretch, hitting only a single free throw. At the same time Dunham figured out how to
play offense again, bringing Butler from down 10 to tied at the half. This was where the calm, cool, collected
veteran play of Ferrell would have been much appreciated, as a major problem
was young guys trying to play too fast.
Half Number Two (Second Verse…Not Quite the Same as the
First):
The second half started (with the exception of Hartman and
Nick Zeisloft starting in place of Blackmon Jr. and Johnson) much the same as
the first half ended, with Butler very much in control of things. About six minutes into the half, the Bulldogs
had pulled out to a six-point lead at 47-53 on a combo of putbacks and a three
from Dunham (who was lost on the perimeter by Blackmon Jr., who tried to chase
him around a screen). For the Hoosiers
up until that point in the half were fueled offensively by Williams with some
assistance from Mosquera-Perea with a nice tip-in and freshman Max Hoetzel, who
had a very nice-looking drive from the perimeter over a taller player.
Then the sleeping giant (and by that I mean the shortest
player on the Indiana roster) woke up.
Ferrell, who had zero points in the first half while riding the pine
with foul trouble, exploded. He scored
IU’s next 10 points, including two three-pointers, to tie the score at 57 all. Throw in some creative putback scoring from
Hartman, an impressive and-1 transition drive from Balckmon Jr., and some more
Ferrell/Williams magic, and the Hoosiers turned a six-point deficit to a
five-point lead in the span of about five game minutes. Indiana would not trail for the remainder of
the game. When it was all said and done,
Williams would lead the team with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Ferrell would
throw in another 20 (remember, ZERO points at the half!), and Mosquera-Perea
and Hartman would contribute eight each.
Now, this isn't to say that Indiana played any prettier in
the second half than it did in the first.
The Bulldogs were still able to drive at will, with the big difference
being that they were missing more of their bunnies. Giving up offensive rebounds was an issue in
the second half, with Butler grabbing six of them in the first eight minutes of
the half, including a putback by former Hoosier Austin Etherington, his only
points of the game. Indiana was able to
mostly contain Dunham after the first few minutes of the half, allowing him to
score only five points in the second half, none of which came from the free
throw line. This was especially crucial
in the final minutes of the game, which, interestingly enough, was exactly when
Ferrell (who is at least six-inches shorter) started guarding him. Ferrell is just ridiculously aggressive and
physical on defense, and he stuck to Dunham like glue, making it difficult for
Dunham to even get his hands on the ball.
The Good:
- The play of Williams and Ferrell. I’ve already talked a lot about these two, so I’ll once again try to keep it brief. Williams played the way many fans were expecting him to, explosive and right on the edge of being out of control. That was the difference in the Williams against Butler and the Williams against Louisville: the latter was completely out of control. He was able to rein it in slightly today while still playing athletically. If this Troy Williams shows up on a daily basis, this Hoosiers team looks radically different, looks much more like the NCAA tournament team the Hoosier fans want them to be. Ferrell, on the other hand, looked uncharacteristically bad in the first half, hampered by early foul trouble. But the Hoosiers needed a leader in the second half and Ferrell has shown time and again that he is the leader of this team. He figured out his offense at the same time as he was preventing Butler’s best player from finding his own. That is exactly the Yogi Ferrell that this team needs.
- The play of Hartman and Mosquera-Perea. Both of their efforts were overshadowed by the play of Williams and Ferrell, but both were critical to Indiana’s success. Hartman is showing game after game that he is the guy who is willing and able to do all of the little things that turns a moderately talented player into a physical, never-back-down player. Hartman is always going to have to work harder than others because he isn’t the most natural athlete (when compared to guys like Williams and Mosquera-Perea). But through hard work and a nose for the ball, Hartman is able to get his hands on some offensive boards for putbacks while also maintaining solid defensive pressure. His efforts got a bit of a nod in the second half, when he started in place of Blackmon Jr. Mosquera-Perea also put together a very nice line with eight points, nine rebounds and four blocks in a team-high 30 minutes. He was doing a better job at boxing out and a much better job of staying in position (as evidenced by the blocks). Many of the putbacks Butler was able to get came when Mosquera-Perea contested the initial shot and nobody else came to help block out. As long as this Mosquera-Perea is the one to show up on game days, this Hoosier team is going to be fine most nights.
- The turnovers (or lack thereof). The Hoosiers turned the ball over 11 times, which, while it may seem a little high, was actually only 14% of their possessions. This is especially impressive considering Butler came into the game forcing opponents to cough it up on around a quarter of the possessions. To further put this rate into perspective, there are only five teams in the country who average fewer turnovers than that, including names like Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The Hoosiers are now averaging turnovers on 16.7% of their possessions, good for 33rd in the country. If you take out the anomaly of the Louisville game, that percentage drops to 15.7%, which would put them in the top 15 nationally. Either way, this is a huge improvement for a team that had a turnover rate of 22% last season.
- Rebounding (overall). The Hoosiers, for what seems like the first time of the season, was able to control the glass on both ends of the court. They pulled down close to their season average with 34% of their misses while holding Butler to 25% of their own misses. This Bulldog team was averaging more than 10% better than that coming into the game and the Hoosiers have been known to give up offensive rebounds. This was a huge step in the right direction for Indiana, with Williams grabbing 11 rebounds, Mosquera-Perea with nine, and Blackmon Jr. with eight. The Hoosiers were just overall the more aggressive team, something which hasn’t been the case all the time this season.
- Offensive ball movement. Man, does this ball move fast. Indiana managed to push the pace enough to reach 76 possessions, in some part due to the high level of ball movement. It just never stops, even after opponents make shots, with one Hoosier or another running to inbound the ball. They had 11 assists on 30 made shots, with Williams and Ferrell each having three. This is the highlight of this year’s version of the Hoosiers, the ability to move the ball quickly and accurately, and the more they are able to do this, the more opposing defenses are going to struggle.
The Not-so-good (comparatively):
- The play of Blackmon Jr. and Johnson. The two dynamic freshmen were probably due to have truly freshman performances, especially Blackmon Jr. who has been nothing short of amazing so far this season. Outside of the context of how well they’ve played this season, Blackmon Jr. and Johnson did not play poorly for freshmen, with the former having eight boards and the latter having two steals. But compared to the level at which these two have been playing this season, this was a rough performance. I also expect this to be the anomaly, with the majority of their games being along the lines of double-digit point totals along with Blackmon Jr. pulling down rebounds and Johnson dishing out assists.
- Defense against the drive. The Butler Bulldogs were able to drive wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Hell, there were times it seemed like a car could drive through the lane, that’s how open it was. It would be easy to blame this on the interior defense, as this area has been iffy for the Hoosiers this season. But in reality, the fault lies equally with the perimeter defenders as with the post guys. These drivers were able to beat their men off the dribble, putting more pressure on the big guys to step up without also sagging off of their own player to help out. This may be a bit of an issue for the Hoosiers all season, which is not unusual for a young team. Ferrell will remain an integral part of the defensive effort, likely drawing the assignment of the opponent’s best player (unless that player happens to be over say 6’8”), and part of the growing process for the younger guys will be to learn from him both in practice and in games.
- The big brain fart. For the most part, this is a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. Any team is going to have times when it’s run on, times where shots aren’t falling and the other team can’t seem to miss. This is what happened late in the first half and early in the second half for the Hoosiers. There was suddenly a lid on the basket and everything was just bouncing out. Match that with Kellan Dunham taking the lid off of the Butler basket and it’s a recipe for a run. What’s really important is how the team responds, and in this case both Ferrell and Williams decided to put the team on their backs and not allow them to lose. As long as the Hoosiers can withstand these little brain farts (which are gonna happen to a young team) they’re going to be able to at least hang with most teams they play.
The Final Word:
Overall, the Hoosiers were far from pretty, but they did
enough to beat a very good Butler team in a place (Bankers Life Fieldhouse)
where the Bulldogs don’t lose. In doing
so, Indiana gained its second win over a top-25 team this season, the same as
the rest of the Big Ten combined. The
offense continued to function, as it’s wont to do, and the defense struggled a
bit, as it’s wont to do. This likely isn’t
going to change anytime soon, so Hoosier fans might as well get used to
it. But as ESPN’s Eamonn Brennan claimed
after the game, this makes Indiana the most watchable team in the country. The sooner you accept this, the sooner you
can have fun watching IU’s offense pull off ridiculous feats without putting
your head in your hands as soon as there’s a boneheaded play on defense.
This type of game was exactly what the Hoosiers
needed as they approach the start of Big Ten play, a gritty, tough-it-out,
physical game against a very good team.
Now we just have to wait to see where that puts them (I’m not even going to try to guess what
conference play is going to look like, with the Big Ten collectively having
losses to New Jersey Institute of Technology, Eastern Michigan, Saint Peter’s,
St. Francis, Central Michigan, Incarnate Word, North Florida, Eastern
Washington, and Texas Southern, who have an average KenPom rating of 167… after
beating a Big Ten team).
**Noteworthy News**
With 20 points, Yogi Ferrell eclipsed the 1,000 point mark,
becoming the 48th Indiana Hoosier to do so and the seventh of the Tom
Crean Era. He has 1,003 points in his career,
putting him in 48th on the all-time scoring list. He needs five to reach Jared Jeffries at
1,008 and another 22 to reach Butch Joyner at 1,030.
With three assists, Ferrell brings his career total to 329,
putting him three assists away from Brian Evans in 15th place and
seven away from Butch Carter in 14th.
Up Next:
The Hoosiers will eat their final helping of cupcake on the
season, hosting the Privateers of New Orleans on Monday Dec. 22 at 7pm on BTNPlus (which requires a subscription). The Privateers are 3-4 on the season, with
two of the three wins coming against non-DI teams. The only things they are doing remotely well
so far are getting to the free throw line (a rate of 52% which is good for 11th
best in the country) and hitting those free throws (making 74% of their
freebies). They are actually shorter
than Indiana, and have just as little by the way of experience. As a team, New Orleans does not shoot the
ball well overall, although they have had some success from deep, they turn the
ball over on almost a quarter of their possessions, they are even worse than
the Hoosiers at forcing turnovers on the defensive end, they struggle to
prevent other teams from shooting well, and they send teams to the free throw
line at a ridiculously high rate. KenPom
ranks the Privateers 304th in the country and also predicts Indiana
to win by a score of 89-67 with a 96% chance of a Hoosier victory. Based on today’s game, I would be tempted to
push the differential even higher, closer to 96-65, however this Indiana team
has shown the annoying habit at times of playing down to the level of
competition. This is also the final
remaining opportunity to really give some younger guys (read Emmitt Holt and Max
Hoetzel) some key minutes. So I’m going
to put the score at 93-75 to compensate for that. Here’s to hoping that the Hoosiers don’t look
past the Privateers to Georgetown and the Big Ten schedule and thereby add New Orleans
to the list of head-scratching Big Ten losses.
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