COLUMN: McRoberts Adds Spice To Hoosiers Lineup
12/30/2017 11:35:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - Zach McRoberts has a favorite Christmas gift.
"Always got to get Chipotle gift cards," McRoberts said Thursday. "That's always a plus."
McRoberts was certainly a plus during Indiana's 79-51 win Friday over Youngstown State, with the host Hoosiers officially a plus 31 points when he was on the court.
Even without a trip to his favorite restaurant, he spiced things up. McRoberts' energy on both end helped spark an 18-4 run to start the second half that put IU, after a desultory first half, into cruise control.
This is coach Archie Miller's debut season at Indiana, but he's already figuring out that the walk-on from Carmel embodies what Indiana players should represent in terms of approach.
"He is an every-day guy," Miller said of McRoberts. "What you see in the games is what you see in practice … he's giving maximum effort. He's playing extremely hard. He's giving you a lot of hustle plays, a lot of winning plays.
" … We need to get some other guys on this team fired up and ready to go and playing like that. When you wear 'INDIANA' across the front of your jersey, I don't care who you're playing, you represent a lot more. I think Zach embodies that."
McRoberts' teammates are appreciative, too.
"He's always a huge help," Juwan Morgan said of McRoberts. "And it's nothing he doesn't do in practice. Every day he's working hard.
"We always say Zach is the guy you hate to go against but love to have on your team, and he showed why tonight. All the hustle plays. All the things people don't like to do, Zach does them."
After a half where it looked like Christmas dinner wasn't yet fully digested, the Hoosiers suddenly looked hungry, and McRoberts' effect was essentially one of a jalapeño pepper.
???????McRoberts got the second half scoring going by draining a 3 from left of the key.
After Josh Newkirk – another definite second-half catalyst – secured a rebound with a nifty behind-the-back dribble and fed Robert Johnson for a layup, a McRoberts steal led to a Morgan dunk and a Youngstown State timeout with 17:31 left as IU's lead was suddenly 36-22.
A pair of Newkirk assists for consecutive Johnson layups, one with either hand, bumped the bulge to 20 with 15:38 to play at 44-24.
The Penguins never actually took flight, looking fully like a youthful team that entered 2-10 and on an eight-game skid. Given how some opponents have shot in the Hall, seeing a foe go 2-for-25 from 3-point range was doubtless refreshing for the home team.
But those two made 3s came back-to-back for Jaylen Benton and helped YSU pull back within 53-36, but McRoberts also helped nip that mini-rally in the bud. He canned his second 3 of the half, this time from the right whing while drawing a foul and then sank the free throw for a 60-38 lead with 8:41 to play.
By the time the flag-laden 7:38 timeout arrived, IU was up 64-38 and was a plus 36 when McRoberts was on the floor. His teammates aren't surprised about that sort of number. McRoberts, even in little ways, makes winning plays.
"He's always getting all the loose rebounds," Morgan said of what it's like to face McRoberts in practice. "When (he's guarding you), you see he has quick hands. If you try to cross him over, nine times out of 10 he's going to get it away from you."
The Hoosiers, after having shot just 37 percent in the first half, fired at a .621 clip after intermission to finish at .492. Penguins aside, the Hoosiers were more concerned about working out their own kinks, and they seemed to do that.
Miller rightly noted Indiana (8-6) will have to rebound better than it did Thursday night, permitting a smaller foe 17 offensive rebounds and winning the overall board battle by a narrow 44-40.
And IU has to shoot the ball better, especially from 3-point range and the foul line, if it expects to prosper during Big Ten play, which resumes at Wisconsin for a 7 p.m. tipoff Tuesday.
But Friday's game was valuable. It allowed Indiana to shake off a bit of rust before traveling to one of the league's toughest venues for visiting teams.
Indiana will have to come more full-tilt-boogie from the start Tuesday.
"It's the hardest league in the country to win on the road, without question," Miller said. "The home venues are packed … and Wisconsin, it's the only thing you can really concentrate on now, and I know how hard it is to play there.
"And that's our focus right now is to find a way to be ready at that jump ball to compete and play as hard as we possibly can against them in that building, which we know is going to be very difficult."
To that end, Miller implied he might consider giving McRoberts his first start of the season.
"We're a low-energy team (too often)," Miller said. "We're not a hyped team. We only have a couple of guys on this team that you know, when the ball goes up, they're coming for you.
"Zach is moving in the direction of a guy that you know, when he's in there, that's he's going full-throttle. He's playing as hard as he can on defense. He's on the offensive glass. He's doing hustle plays. Whatever it takes. And when you have guys out there that impact the game with their effort and their passion, it can really spearhead some guys."
Could well whet the appetite to bite into that pepper right away.
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - Zach McRoberts has a favorite Christmas gift.
"Always got to get Chipotle gift cards," McRoberts said Thursday. "That's always a plus."
McRoberts was certainly a plus during Indiana's 79-51 win Friday over Youngstown State, with the host Hoosiers officially a plus 31 points when he was on the court.
Even without a trip to his favorite restaurant, he spiced things up. McRoberts' energy on both end helped spark an 18-4 run to start the second half that put IU, after a desultory first half, into cruise control.
This is coach Archie Miller's debut season at Indiana, but he's already figuring out that the walk-on from Carmel embodies what Indiana players should represent in terms of approach.
"He is an every-day guy," Miller said of McRoberts. "What you see in the games is what you see in practice … he's giving maximum effort. He's playing extremely hard. He's giving you a lot of hustle plays, a lot of winning plays.
" … We need to get some other guys on this team fired up and ready to go and playing like that. When you wear 'INDIANA' across the front of your jersey, I don't care who you're playing, you represent a lot more. I think Zach embodies that."
McRoberts' teammates are appreciative, too.
"He's always a huge help," Juwan Morgan said of McRoberts. "And it's nothing he doesn't do in practice. Every day he's working hard.
"We always say Zach is the guy you hate to go against but love to have on your team, and he showed why tonight. All the hustle plays. All the things people don't like to do, Zach does them."
After a half where it looked like Christmas dinner wasn't yet fully digested, the Hoosiers suddenly looked hungry, and McRoberts' effect was essentially one of a jalapeño pepper.
???????McRoberts got the second half scoring going by draining a 3 from left of the key.
After Josh Newkirk – another definite second-half catalyst – secured a rebound with a nifty behind-the-back dribble and fed Robert Johnson for a layup, a McRoberts steal led to a Morgan dunk and a Youngstown State timeout with 17:31 left as IU's lead was suddenly 36-22.
A pair of Newkirk assists for consecutive Johnson layups, one with either hand, bumped the bulge to 20 with 15:38 to play at 44-24.
The Penguins never actually took flight, looking fully like a youthful team that entered 2-10 and on an eight-game skid. Given how some opponents have shot in the Hall, seeing a foe go 2-for-25 from 3-point range was doubtless refreshing for the home team.
But those two made 3s came back-to-back for Jaylen Benton and helped YSU pull back within 53-36, but McRoberts also helped nip that mini-rally in the bud. He canned his second 3 of the half, this time from the right whing while drawing a foul and then sank the free throw for a 60-38 lead with 8:41 to play.
By the time the flag-laden 7:38 timeout arrived, IU was up 64-38 and was a plus 36 when McRoberts was on the floor. His teammates aren't surprised about that sort of number. McRoberts, even in little ways, makes winning plays.
"He's always getting all the loose rebounds," Morgan said of what it's like to face McRoberts in practice. "When (he's guarding you), you see he has quick hands. If you try to cross him over, nine times out of 10 he's going to get it away from you."
The Hoosiers, after having shot just 37 percent in the first half, fired at a .621 clip after intermission to finish at .492. Penguins aside, the Hoosiers were more concerned about working out their own kinks, and they seemed to do that.
Miller rightly noted Indiana (8-6) will have to rebound better than it did Thursday night, permitting a smaller foe 17 offensive rebounds and winning the overall board battle by a narrow 44-40.
And IU has to shoot the ball better, especially from 3-point range and the foul line, if it expects to prosper during Big Ten play, which resumes at Wisconsin for a 7 p.m. tipoff Tuesday.
But Friday's game was valuable. It allowed Indiana to shake off a bit of rust before traveling to one of the league's toughest venues for visiting teams.
Indiana will have to come more full-tilt-boogie from the start Tuesday.
"It's the hardest league in the country to win on the road, without question," Miller said. "The home venues are packed … and Wisconsin, it's the only thing you can really concentrate on now, and I know how hard it is to play there.
"And that's our focus right now is to find a way to be ready at that jump ball to compete and play as hard as we possibly can against them in that building, which we know is going to be very difficult."
To that end, Miller implied he might consider giving McRoberts his first start of the season.
"We're a low-energy team (too often)," Miller said. "We're not a hyped team. We only have a couple of guys on this team that you know, when the ball goes up, they're coming for you.
"Zach is moving in the direction of a guy that you know, when he's in there, that's he's going full-throttle. He's playing as hard as he can on defense. He's on the offensive glass. He's doing hustle plays. Whatever it takes. And when you have guys out there that impact the game with their effort and their passion, it can really spearhead some guys."
Could well whet the appetite to bite into that pepper right away.
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