The Hoosiers held on during a wacky game to win 80-74 at
Illinois, just the second time in 13 tries that Indiana has been able to do
that. This was a game of runs for both
teams, with fans unable to get comfortable no matter the score. This was also a sharpshooting exercise, with
a combined 23 made three-pointers with four different players making at least
three shots from deep. But when it was
all said and done, Indiana walked out of Champaign with a road victory in
conference play, something which is much easier said than done.
Now, about those runs I mentioned. The Illini started the game on a 14-3 run by
some out-of-his-mind shooting by Kendrick Nunn (3-3 from deep on the first
three possessions), but the Hoosiers countered with a 14-2 run of their own, with
Rob Johnson, Yogi Ferrell, and Nick Zeisloft hitting threes (two of them in the
case of Zeisloft), to take the lead 17-16.
The Hoosiers would then outscore the Illini 17-7 to take a 34-23 lead
before Illinois scored 11 straight to tie the game. A couple Troy Williams dunks ended the half
on a high note for the Hoosiers, going into the locker room with a 38-34 lead.
But those runs didn’t stop at halftime, no sir. To turn the tables from the start of the
game, Indiana got off to a 13-6 start to lead 50-40. Then Hoosier fans everywhere began to panic
as the Illini went on a 21-2 run to take a nine point lead with about 10
minutes remaining. Recently, this has
been a recipe for disaster for Indiana, a young team on the road in a tough
environment. But not today. Instead, the Hoosiers ended the game with a
28-13 run (including 13-2 in the final three minutes), doing just enough to
seal the game.
Six total players (three for each team) reached double-digit
scoring, led by Nunn for Illinois with 24 points on 6-10 shooting from beyond
the arc. Williams and James Blackmon Jr.
for Indiana both scored 21 points, Williams going 8-10 from the field and
Blackmon Jr. hitting 4-6 from deep. In a
bit of a surprise, sixth-man Ahmad Starks poured in 19 points for the Illini,
hitting 5-8 three-pointers and 4-4 from the line (as a reference, he was 3-21
from deep in Big Ten play coming into this game). Malcolm Hill, the Illinois leading scorer in
the absence of Rayvonte Rice, hit just shy of his average at 12 points, and
Zeisloft had an important 10 points for the Hoosiers on 3-5 shooting from the
perimeter.
The Good:
- The Play of Williams and Blackmon Jr. When these two guys are on, great things happen for the Hoosiers. Williams was a single rebounds away from a double-double, and also had a couple of steals. But his athleticism is what really sets him apart, and was particularly evident on his putback tip-in which gave the Hoosiers the lead for good. Williams attacking the rim does great things, not the least of which involves keeping the floor well-spaced for the dish. Blackmon Jr., on the other hand, was deadly from the perimeter. He was much better at choosing his shots (and not taking contested ones early in the shot clock), and he even had an assist on the fast break (something we have not seen happen much) which resulted in a three-point play the old-fashion way for Max Hoetzel. Blackmon Jr. ended with seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal to go with his 21 points.
- Yogi Ferrell’s Leadership. For the second straight game, Ferrell was held to only seven points in the game. Last year, that would have been insurmountable for a Hoosier team that was completely reliant upon his scoring. This year, however, that pressure has been lifted thanks to an influx (or the development) of scorers. Instead, Ferrell was able to contribute with nine assists, just one shy of his career single-game best. Those assists helped to score 24 points, with a particularly important one coming with just over a minute left when he stole the ball and passed it ahead to Blackmon Jr. for the layup to go ahead three. Pair all of this with just a single turnover (the team only had nine on the game), and Ferrell was just as critical to the Hoosiers’ winning effort as were Williams and Blackmon Jr.
- The Physicality of Collin Hartman. Just when you think he can’t be any more impressive, Collin Hartman goes and changes your mind. His final stat line of six points, one rebound, and one assist may not wow anybody, but his defensive effort certainly has to. He was given the assignment of guarding 6’11” Nnanna Egwu by virtue of being the biggest Hoosier out there. This same Collin Hartman, who is more of a small forward than he even is a power forward (let alone a center), wasn’t even a big man on his high school team. Yet here he finds himself the starting center for Indiana in Big Ten play, forced to play way out of his position, particularly on defense. And how did he respond? By helping to hold Egwu to zero points and two rebounds and forcing two turnovers before the Illini big man fouled out with just over two minutes to play. Several of those fouls came when Hartman positioned himself perfectly on the rebound and forced Egwu to either attempt to go over him (and get called for over-the-back) or to shove him out of the way in frustration. So despite what the stat book says, Hartman was huge for the Hoosiers.
- Bench Play. Many members of the Indiana bench came ready to play as well, led by Zeisloft, Hoetzel, and Emmitt Holt. As mentioned, Zeisloft shot the ball well right when the Hoosiers needed it most. But he also did not turn the ball over once in 19 minutes of play and played solid, physical defense, even recording a block at the end of the game. Hoetzel contributed six points in five minutes of play, but also got a nice steal in the first half. He played with great intensity, and was perfect shooting (1-1 from deep, 1-1 for two, and 1-1 from the line). Holt scored four points and had a block, but also played critical minutes against Egwu as well. The one negative thing which could be said about Holt in this outing is that he missed a couple of bunnies, including what should have been an automatic putback dunk with the Hoosiers down four in the final six minutes. But he is learning and developing, and his positive contributions far outweigh the negatives.
- Defensive Rebounding. While the Indiana offensive rebounding effort was about average for this season, it was the defensive rebounding which stood out. The Hoosiers held the Illini to rebounding only 14.8% of their misses (meaning Indiana got the rebound on 85% of the Illinois missed shots). This is a full 13% lower for Illinois’ offensive rebounding, and it was 19% lower than IU’s season average for opponent offensive rebounding. This is huge for an Indiana team which is going to be undersized for the foreseeable future.
- All Things Free Throw. The Hoosiers have been great this season at keeping opposing teams off the free throw line, and that continued against the Illini, who attempted only 12 freebies on the game. This gives them a free throw rate of 21.8% (free throw attempts divided by field goal attempts), a solid 10% lower than their season average. This was important because the Illini do not miss the free throws that they do earn (they hit 10 out of 12 today). On the other end, the Hoosiers shot 20 free throws, hitting 15 of them (for the record, that’s more than Illinois attempted). Their free throw rate of 35.7% was actually just below the Hoosier average, however, it was seven percent above what the Illini were allowing coming into the game, a definite win for Indiana.
The Not-So-Good:
- Guarding the Three. Whether this was just a fluke shooting performance by Illinois (who was hitting deep and contested shots) or was indicative of a defensive flaw for the Hoosiers, the Illini went off today, hitting 12-27 from deep. Nunn was particularly deadly, but Indiana should have expected him to shoot well (he was hitting above 40% from the perimeter coming into the game). Instead, they left him relatively open on all of the Illini’s first three possessions. But to be fair, Nunn was feeling it and sometimes there’s nothing that can be done. The other Illini who as feeling it was Starks, who hit 5-8 from the perimeter. This was far and away an outlying performance, as Starks was only hitting 14% during Big Ten play and 26% on the season. Sometimes you just have to accept that a guy will go off randomly (or the blind squirrel finds the nut). Either way, this type of defensive performance from the Hoosiers needs to be a rarity if they hope to stay toward the top of the Big Ten.
- Offensive Lulls. At this point, this is getting a bit nitpicky to find things that were really wrong during this game. But we have seen this season that no lead is safe with these Hoosiers, who can’t quite figure out how to stomp on opponents’ throats once they get their foot into place. Where this team differs from last year, however, is that they have thus far done a good job of closing out tough games, even after starting slow and/or giving up a double-digit lead (or two, or three). The fact that the Hoosiers have been able to close out multiple such games on the road in the Big Ten is a huge improvement.
The Final Word:
Exciting. Any time
you watch a game where both teams are giving up double-digit leads (multiple
times), exciting is a good description (along with mind-blowing and
frustrating). But for stretches the
Hoosiers played some of their best basketball of the season. They never let the score get into their heads
and just played the way they needed to.
Once again, however, the Hoosiers got off to a ridiculously slow start,
even if they were able to overcome it.
As long as they can maintain this level of composure, it is not too much
of a concern. But when games like the
visit to Michigan State come around and they start playing like chickens with
their heads cut off, things get very ugly very fast. For now, Hoosier fans should just sit back,
relax (well, after forgetting how the Colts played today), and be excited that
Indiana has stolen not one but two Big Ten road victories early in conference
play.
**Noteworthy News**
With nine assists, Yogi Ferrell moved into 12th
all-time at IU in career assists with 362.
He needs four to move into 11th with Jordan Hulls, but then
needs another 19 to crack the top 10 (to tie Steve Alford at 385). He also hit a three-pointer, keeping his
strike alive at 49 straight game, which is the second-longest active streak in
the country. He also only needs four
more made threes to move into the top 10 for career (tie Roderick Wilmont at
150).
Up Next:
The Hoosiers host conference-leading Maryland on Thursday
January 22. This is one of those
ridiculously late games, with tip scheduled for 9pm, and it will be aired on
ESPNU. This is a huge game for the
Hoosiers, who trail the Terps by just half a game. Indiana will once again be the underdog (as
has happened in all but one Big Ten game so far), but this is becoming familiar
territory for the Hoosiers. A win
(especially minus Mosquera-Perea) could really boost the confidence of this
young team.
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