That's the Game: Maryland

There’s that Indiana offense we’d been missing in Big Ten play!  And then some!  The #23 Hoosiers whomped the #13 Maryland Terps 89-70.  Of course, this makes the Big Ten all the more confusing (and fun), but the Hoosiers now find themselves tied with Wisconsin atop the conference.

Indiana jumped out to a quick lead, in large part thanks to Collin Hartman, who had seven points in the first two minutes of the game.  Maryland would work their way back to tie the game at 26 with about seven minutes to go in the half, but they would go into the half trailing the Hoosiers by three.  That, however, was the closest the Terps would come the rest of the night, as the Hoosiers sprinted ahead to start the second half and never looked back.  Indiana hit 9-11 second-half threes (that’s almost 82%!), cementing the biggest victory of the season so far for Tom Crean and the Hoosiers.

The Good (and boy was it good):

• Play of the Starters.  Man were they electric!  They did pretty much whatever they wanted whenever they wanted to do it.  Yogi Ferrell led all scorers with 24 points, James Blackmon Jr. poured in 22 of his own to go with five rebounds, Troy Williams had 16 points and seven rebounds, and Collin Hartman scored a career-high 15 points.  Rob Johnson scored only seven points, but also had six boards.  This group also played almost 18 minutes together, an oddity for an Indiana team that likes to play fast.

• Collin Hartman.  I want t pull Hartman out for some special attention.  I’m sure when he committed to Indiana he never imagined playing center, but that’s where he finds himself a third of the way through Big Ten play.  And he’s succeeding!  Take last night.  He scored 15 points on only four field goals, going perfect from the field with only a lone missed free throw.  He also had an assist, three blocks, and a steal.  He’s actually a matchup nightmare for many opposing teams, as their big men have to try to honor him at the perimeter (he’s 15-30 from there on the season, 6-10 during conference play).  And on the defensive end, where he’s always going to be undersized?  Hartman is thriving there too.  In the last two games he’s helped to hold five different big men to eight total points and 10 total rebounds, and that’s with Marylnad’s Jon Graham having six of each.  In conference play, he’s surprisingly one of the top-10 blockers in the Big Ten… at 6’7”.  To say Hartman is playing well is an understatement, and his work earned him “Coll-in Hart-man” chants from the Assembly Hall faithful on two occasions, something I never imagined would happen coming into the season.

• The Shooting.  All of It.  By Everyone.  The Hoosiers shot 60% from the field, 68% from deep, and 78% from the line.  Ferrell was on fire (and that may be an understatement as well), hitting 7-8 from the perimeter.  Many of those were contested, too.  Hartman hit all three of his deep shots, Blackmon Jr. was 3-5, Max Hoetzel was perfect in his one attempt, and Johnson was 1-3.  That’s 15 made three-pointers on the night against the best perimeter defense in the conference and one of the best in the country.  I don’t care much about what your defense is like, if you come out and shoot like the Hoosiers did last night, you can beat just abut anybody.

• Ferrell’s Leadership.  A lot will be said about Ferrell’s shooting, but his leadership was just as important.  He had five assists and not a single turnover in 37 minutes played.  He spent the night making Maryland freshman Melo Trimble look like the freshman he is, something most opponents have not been able to do.  He also frustrated some of the bigger Terps on defense, preventing the ball from even entering the post.  Ferrell is a level head who really knows his team and does exactly what’s needed for his team to win.  And really, that’s what you really want most out of your veteran point guard.

• Defensive Free Throw Rate.  Unlike most of the teams that Maryland has faced, the Hoosiers were able to keep the Terps off the free throw line.  Before the game, I had this as the determining factor for Indiana to win.  Maryland is one of the best teams in the country at getting to the line, while the Hoosiers are one of the best in the country at keeping opponents off the line, so something had to give.  And it wasn’t the Hoosiers.  Of particular importance was keeping Trimble off the line, as he came into the contest shooting an average of seven free throws per game.  Against Indiana?  He took only one free throw, and missed it.  As a whole, the Terps were 6-12 from the line, which is really low both in number taken and number made.  In fact, Indiana hit more free throws (14) than the Terps attempted, which was a huge part of Hoosiers’ success.

• All Gas, No Brakes.  Unlike the last few games, Indiana started both halves well.  Also unlike many of the Big Ten games, the Hoosiers never really let up and didn’t let their opponent go on big runs (like what happened at Illinois).  Once the second half started, Maryland was never really in the game.  Now, as an Indiana fan I’ll be completely honest and say that I wasn’t comfortable until the lead was 19 with about a minute and a half to go (and the student section was singing a particularly synchronized rendition of “Na Na Na Na Hey Hey-ey Goodbye”), but the Hoosiers showed the killer instinct they’d lacked much of the season, a welcome change this far into the conference season.

The Not-So-Good (what little there was of it):

• Defending the perimeter.  The only thing I could remotely come up with as a negative from the game was the fact that Indiana gave up entirely too many threes, several of them largely open.  The big problem was sticking with freshman Jared Nickens, who is the designated sharpshooter, the guy who has taken about four times as many threes as he has twos.  He hit 4-7 from deep, helping the Terps go 10-20 for 50% from the perimeter.  This is way above their average of 37%, and is also far beyond the Indiana defensive average of 30%.  But a solid job defending the post and the defensive ability to force Maryland to settle for midrange jumpers (matched with IU making 15 threes of their own) helped to mitigate the effects of the Terps’ good shooting.

The Final Word:

Huge.  That sums up the results of this game, one which was admittedly not a must-win for the Hoosiers (which I would not have guessed even just two weeks ago).  Indiana now sits at the top of the Big Ten after being picked to finish around ninth or tenth in the preseason.  The problems of the offseason are now a distant memory.  The projections had IU starting conference play at 2-4 at best, possibly even 1-5, but here the Hosiers are at 5-1, with the lone loss coming to Michigan State at the Breslin Center (a place where Indiana has even worse luck than in Champaign).  But the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Hoosiers for a while, with trips to Ohio State and Purdue, hosting Rutgers, traveling to Wisconsin, hosting Michigan, and returning a trip to Maryland.  Indiana is currently projected to go 2-4 over this stretch (wins over Rutgers and Michigan), so let’s see if they can continue to buck expectations and shock the conference and the country.

**Noteworthy News**

With 24 points, Yogi Ferrell surged ahead of Daryl Thomas, Bobby “Slick” Leonard, Joe Cooke, Vernon Payne, and Marshal Strickland to join Victor Oladipo in a tie at 38^th in career points at 1,117.  With seven made three-pointers, he also now moves into 10^th place in career threes (153), and is now chasing Christian Watford at ninth with 164.  Five assists on the night also moved him into 11^th in career assists (367), surpassing Jordan Hulls, and he can move into the top 10 by joining Steve Alford at 385.

Up Next:

As mentioned, the Hoosiers travel to Columbus for a rematch with the Buckeyes, who Indiana defeated by a score of 69-66 just 13 days ago.  Columbus is always a tough place to play (as is any other road venue in the Big Ten).  The Hoosiers have won their three times since the 2001-2002 season, which is better than several other venues (think Michigan State and Illinois), but many of the losses came by somewhere around 20 points while only three of the losses were decided by single-digits.  This game will be played at 1:30pm on Sunday January 25, and will be shown nationally on CBS.

That's the Game: Illinois

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 12^th all-time at IU in career assists with 362.  He needs four to move into 11^th 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.